Mafiatale
by PotentiallyHarmful
Summary: My own version of mafiatale. Papyrus had NO IDEA his family was the mafia of their little state. But now that he's in the thick of it, the family seems to be falling apart. And he's gotta fix it.
1. Prologue

(NOTE: Welcome friends to my very own Mafiatale! I have a feeling this series is going to be a bumpy ride. At the time I wrote this (and honestly STILL) I've never read a mafiatale/mobtale thing ever online. I've only seen pictures and I can only guess what goes on in those AU's. Any likeness or similarities has nothing to do with any other AU and is completely coincidental.)

(THERE ARE ORIGINAL CHARACTERS IN THIS STORY. I wrote this for my friend SirenSonJes and myself for FUN and because I ENJOY WRITING. So if you don't like original characters, violence, death, or good content, then please go elsewhere for your mafiatale fix.)

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(PROLOGUE)

It's 1921. In a small little village is a pair of ten year old skeleton monsters. They're best friends. They didn't used to be tough. The boy, Gaster, is a bit stubborn and even talking to the girl like a person was a chore as a younger kid. The girl Vrinda was just as stubborn, being a spoiled child from the city. But the two (after fighting and physically wrestling in the dirt on some days) quickly became great friends.

But one day a band of humans razed their small pitiful farm village, burning the homes and killing everyone in it. The only survivors... Gaster and Vrinda, who hid in a small, cramped, underground storage space in the floor boards. Vrinda's father told them to get down there while he and his wife distracted the humans. Gaster had to hold her mouth shut as they watched her parents' dust fall through the cracks.

After a while though, the fire started to engulf the house. With humans around, they had no choice but to make a break for it... so they smashed their way up and out through the floor boards and pushed a human out of their way as they ran. Bullets flew after them, one hitting Vrinda in her thin shin bone and cracking it nearly in half. Vrinda crashed into the dirt, nearly unable to scream from the shock and pain. Gaster picked her up in his arms and ran as far as he could with his best friend screaming and crying in agony. Agony from seeing her parent's die, their home being taken and God, her leg.

They got away. Gaster ran the whole time and made it to a city in Rhode Island. He never learned healing magic and neither did Vrinda. Not for this kind of wound anyway... So Gaster set her down in the back of an alley to hide her and only managed to find an old used bandage to keep her shin bones together so it didn't crack completely in half. They sit there in silence for a week, only the occasional sob from both of them.

But on the eighth day, a shadow blocks the light of the alleyway...and doesn't move. Gaster can see it's a human. A human man. He begins to stalk down the alleyway. Gaster stands up and summons what pathetic magic he has and stands in front Vrinda defensively. He screams at the man to get out or he'll kill them. But the man gets all the way up to Gaster, hands in his pocket and a concerned look on his face. He asks the kids what their problem is. He some sort of spiciest? Gaster explains in anger what happened and throws a punch at the man's gut. But the dude doesn't even move. Gaster's magic is so weak that it couldn't help his equally weak punch. He pants and takes a step back. He can't defend himself, let alone Vrinda. But the man just scratches his stubbled chin and seems to consider something. Finally he tells them to come with him. He thinks he knows a guy that could help them. Gaster is ten... he knows he shouldn't go off with a human... but his friend... He asks if this person can fix her leg a3nd the man smiles with youthful confidence and says of course.

The man takes the two in a Ford. A NEW Ford... The kids can't believe it. The ride's a little bumpy and it hurts Vrinda's leg, but Gaster offers his holed hand for her to hold (and nearly crush), so that she can deal with the pain. Eventually they make it to a very very nice... mansion... The ten year olds are amazed and the man says he'll go see what his boss says and that the two should stay in the car. They do and the man goes inside. But Vrinda is not about to be left behind without going inside that house. She tells Gaster that they gotta get in there. Gaster wants in too, but he's not sure, with her leg... Vrinda tells him to tighten the bandage because they are goin' in. He does it reluctantly and they sneak out of the car as quietly as they can. Gaster insists that he carry her, but instead he serves as more of a crutch. They walk in through the front door and sneak around. The place is beautiful. They wonder who this boss is... Who could own such a nice place? But eventually they make it to a room where they can hear the men talking through a door. The bosses name is... Salvatore Maranzano. Gaster covers his mouth in disbelief... This man started the American Mafia. And these two just snuck into his house! Gaster whispers that they've gotta get outta here, but before they can move they hear Salvatore speak to them, telling them to come out. The two come out warily, but Salvatore, a middle aged man with slicked back black hair just smiles at them. He tells them that he likes 'em. It turns out the guy and Salvatore WANTED the two to sneak in. Salvatore raises a hand and it glows green... He uses magic... Vrinda's leg is fixed. Gaster lets Vrinda stand on her own and the two are shocked. Humans don't typically have magic. Salvatore tells the kids he's sorry about what happened to them... and asks if revenge sounded good. Gaster and Vrinda said it sounds great.

(1928)

Salvatore leaves and returns to New York, leaving Gaster and Vrinda to be trained by Salvatore's men until they're considered deadly weapons at age 17. It really didn't take long for the two to fall in love during all this training. They did EVERYTHING together. They sparred, ate, played card games, caused havoc for their trainers and bosses together by playing pranks constantly, and slept in the same bedroom (and sometimes bed) together. Gaster and Vrinda are highly thought to be a power couple. And they're… pretty scary, according to the other young men and women and monsters in training. They're inducted and finally considered "made" men. Now they're untouchable in the criminal underworld and if anyone hurts them, the offenders will regret it deeply... And the two are very happy about it. They go off and find a few of the humans that committed the terrible crime against Gaster and Vrinda seven years ago... and the humans are "taken care of"...

(1929)

At 18, the two get married and buy a house close to the ocean, still living in Rhode Island. A month after the extravagant wedding, they see someone familiar on top of a roof. An owl girl they used to know as kids, but she'd moved to the town after theirs. Civetta. They ask what happened after they call her down and she explains that several humans kidnapped her years ago to be sold as a pet. But she recently escaped when they heard they were going to try and make her a coat… and now has nowhere to go... no money, no nothing. The two take her in and decide to train her themselves to be a part of their little branch of the American mafia. Civetta agrees to help them clean the world up, one group of thugs at a time. It turns out she's a great agent for information gathering from the sky. Civetta is a well-loved part off the family.

(1930)

A year later Vrinda and Gaster have a son. Sans. The parents are dumbfounded. They're still young, and have no idea how to care for a baby. Civetta enjoyed watching them run around and sometimes bump (crash) into each other in a panic when Sans would scream and cry. But she'd take over and hold Sans in her warm feathers and he'd quiet. The parents learn as quickly as they can and spend a whole year doing almost no work. The second in command, an older man, laughs at them over the phone and says he'll take over for a bit, but they'd better get to work quick. So they figure out how to care for their baby as quickly as they can. But word gets out that the recently up and coming Gaster family had a baby... and there are some people who want to cause trouble.

(1931)

Sans turns one and the parents and Civetta start going and doing jobs again. Mercy on human men is slim... Human women on the other hand actually help them sometimes. This is not to say there aren't women who are equally as terrible as the men or that men can't be helpful at times. But Vrinda begins to get friendly with the girls around town and she gets so much more information than she used to. Everyone is learning that the Gaster family is going to run this town eventually and most people want to cooperate. Gaster usually does the dirtier work, killing with guns, blades, poison and magic. While the human methods are quieter and smoother, using magic is far more entertaining. He also goes around to bars and trying to get comfy with the other bar goers, but he's clearly socially awkward even though training was supposed to cover that. Everyone is always so drunk though that they never seem to notice. Gaster always spends just enough money to get everyone sauced up so they'll talk. It's not like they'll remember what they said the next day anyway. And if they DO, they'll know that their lives are in Gaster's holed hands. Civetta is strictly a spy. She tabs people's phones and puts bugs in the walls of suspect homes and places of business. Her ears are excellent and she can hear a hushed conversation across a room full of loud people. Her information turns up something…. highly suspect. She doesn't get to tell the Gaster family about it though before things go south.

One particular evening is one of the most terrifying ones Gaster, Vrinda and Civetta have ever witnessed. They all left Sans at home with a very well trusted nanny who works for the boss of bosses so that they could complete a mission that required all three of them. But when the three get a few blocks away from their home, they can hear sirens and police yelling. They can see a horrible glowing fire. They all run and see that their home is on fire. A police man screams into a loud speaker that the suspect should come out of the burning building immediately with… a child. Dread completely over takes them. The first to run forward is Vrinda, pushing through officers who try to stop her once she gets close. Gaster has to physically grab her to stop her from rushing in. Inside through the front window they can see a human man clutching Sans in one arm and pointing a gun to his head with the other hand. This feeling the parents have is like waves of fire. They can't believe how…. Parental they feel. Vrinda is almost vibrating with the repeating thought "give me my son back" ricocheting around her skull. Gaster's body is on fire and waves of it crash into him over and over again, ready to let his wife go so they can both storm the place. But honestly he's the only one between the two of them that's remaining calm. Civetta can't do anything either. But from behind the parents and the flashing police lights, she watches Vrinda start glowing. Gaster lets go of her and watches in shock. Vrinda stares at the gun and it's yanked from the mans' hand, crumpling it in midair. The human gawks at it. But before he can realize what's going on, Vrinda teleports next to him and grabs Sans from the man's arm, holding him close and turning him the other way. Both of her eyes glow a piercing yellow and the man screams, terrified that she suddenly appeared and looks so menacing. The murderous vibes coming off of this monster are incredible. She reaches forward and grabs the mans' head with her free hand, eyes wide with rage. "Do not fucking touch my baby" She says shakily in a dark voice before slowly crushing the humans' head. The sounds of a skull being crushed can be heard through his agonized screaming and begging for his life. Blood oozes from every exit on his head until Vrinda makes a fist, ripping the top of the guys skull off. She walks out, the body dropping behind her. The fire continues and in the distance, firetruck sirens are screaming far down the street. Gaster and Civetta rush up to Vrinda and Sans. The two are only a little struck by Vrinda's outburst, but really they think they should have expected that anyway. Vrinda adjusts Sans from her shoulder to a nurturing baby holding position and Sans is perfectly alright. He's not crying, fussing, nothing. In fact, he smiles and giggles, happy to see his parents and Civetta. Vrinda cuddles Sans close. Gaster still can't believe how he felt seeing his child in danger. REAL danger…. And if he felt like waves of an inferno were bad, he can't imagine how Vrinda felt. Teleporting for them is still kind of a stretch of magic, so for Vrinda to be so filled with rage that she subconsciously teleported to save their son is…. Well it's beautiful and sexy first of all, but it's also really scary. He's never seen Vrinda so angry she went into a trance… Gaster makes a huge mental note to never play too roughly with Sans when he gets older.

The next day, the Gaster family hear about something else horrible. Salvatore Maranzano was stabbed and shot to death in his home by several men from an opposing mob boss. The Maranzano branch does their best to keep a stiff upper lip and high head, but really everyone is distraught over the murder of their boss. The Gaster family especially. That man saved them. Gave them money and safety. And now he's gone. Every single person vows to get revenge on the other mob boss for what he had ordered…

(1933)

Four years go by and a second child is born. Papyrus. He's easy to care for now that they've dealt with Sans' baby stage. But the four years that passed were a little rocky. Vrinda and Gaster argue sometimes over whether or not they'll kill a certain person or let them live to spread the fear of the family, or if they should introduce Sans to this terrifying business. Vrinda doesn't want Sans to grow up knowing how to kill people just right, but Gaster says the incident with the fire and the crazy man is a huge reason he SHOULD join. To defend himself if nothing else. One night Sans overhears them. He's a creepily smart four year old and finally figuring out that his parents are members of the mafia just like he sees in the newspaper, he wants to join. To help! So a couple days after the argument has died away, Sans says he wants to learn to protect the people he cares about. The parents are shocked and mortified that their young child heard them. And that he knows now what they do… Vrinda is still highly against it, but Gaster encourages his young son to be a big strong bruiser some day. But not now. Maybe when he's older.

On a break day for the family, they go to an amusement park. It's very nice and Sans gets all sugared up. Vrinda is sure Sans wont sleep for twenty years…. But towards the end of the fun day, Gaster and Vrinda spot a faint glowing at the end of a dark alley. They decide to investigate, Civetta close behind. (Is she a bodyguard? Honestly one might think with her huge stature.) They reach a pair of flame monsters. One, a grown red flame man and one orange flame child… he looks ready to go out. The man looks over at the approaching family and curls in on his child like a scared dog and its pup. Gaster and Vrinda look at each other and can see themselves… This is exactly what happened to them. So with a smile and a quiet voice, the two ask if the man would like to come with them. The man stares at them… and the children they have. He's heard of these people. The skeletons. The W.D. Gaster Family Mafia… He's reluctant, only going if these people PROMISE to help save his son. He'll do anything if they'll save his only child. The family is more than happy to take them in.

Flameheart is the flame mans name. Grillby is his child. The boy is six years old and he's going out. Vrinda, being better at healing magic than Gaster, takes Grillby and heals him. Healing a flame monster is difficult as one might imagine. How do you heal a flame? But Vrinda does it somehow and the child burns a little brighter. The family serves the two food and they "BURN" right through it, emptying every plate given to them. Healthy and full, the Flame family hug each other tightly. Gaster promises them shelter and food… as long as Flameheart intends on repaying him. Flameheart doesn't hesitate to agree, telling Gaster to give him any order and he WILL do it. Gaster explains that they've acquired a nice little bar on the other side of town that's hard to get information out of sometimes. He wants Flameheart and Grillby to run the place and get any information. They can keep most of the money, only asking for 10% of the earnings. For Flameheart, this is a dream come true and he and Grillby swear their fealty to the Gaster family for life.

(1940)

Sans is older. Ten years old. Papyrus is older. Six years old. Papyrus still has no idea what his parents do. He thinks they're negotiators for the FBI. Sans knows EXACTLY what they do and he still insists that he wants in. He's exhibited large amounts of magic and the fact that he knows how to use it… So Finally Vrinda caves and starts teaching him with Gaster in a special training warehouse while Papyrus listens to the radio with Civetta. Vrinda and Gaster are hard and strict teachers, making Sans go faster and harder and pushing him until he falls over from exhaustion. Vrinda quietly hopes that Sans will give up on this whole thing…. But since Sans has been reading the paper… listening to the radio… hearing about all the horrible things humans and even monsters are capable of, he knows he has to get stronger and better than everyone else so he can protect his family and his city. So Vrinda's prayers are completely unheard.

(1945)

Sans is 15 years old and he's officially inducted into the W.D. Gaster Family Mafia. He's an EXCEPTIONAL member. Strong in every way. To some he may seem lazy. But it's a façade and you should not be fooled. Because if you are, you will regret it. Sans often times goes to Flameheart and Grillby's bar to hang out and to help get any info he can (spying is all he's allowed to do right now at his age, darnit.) Over the years he and Grillby have become good friends. 11 year old Papyrus too, but he's not allowed in the bar. (Neither is Sans, but when your parents are mob lords, others bend the rules a little bit for you.)

(1948)

Sans is 18 years old now and his brother is 14. Papyrus watches crime shows and listens to the crime stations on the radio and reads the paper all the time. And the Mob fascinates him. He STILL thinks at this point that his parents and brother are negotiators or something for the FBI. He thinks his family FIGHTS the mob and protects the city. But at the same time he agrees with a lot of what the Mob is doing. He often wonders what side he'll pick. Papyrus doesn't notice that everyone is nice to him, or wary of their words around him. He just thinks everyone is being super nice or shy. But one day….


	2. Chapter 1: Friend or Foe?

(IMPORTANT:

If you haven't read my story introducing my "skelemom" then you may not understand Vrinda. So be prepared for a skelemom that has a large part in a fanfiction. If you want to read Vrinda's origin and stuff, here's the link to that story.

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s/11884916/1/The-Beginning

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Less important note, Gaster will have [ ]'s in his dialogue to show it's him talking and not Papyrus, so is ONLY in all caps.

I WROTE THIS A YEAR AND A HALF AGO, SOKEEP THAT IN MIND.)

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(1949)

It's a chilly evening in Rhode Island by the water at the Gaster home. A fifteen year old Papyrus is watching TV. The news states that the mafia has made another move against a rivaling family. But nobody can seem to figure out the names of who these mobsters are.

Sans, wearing a button up shirt and brown vest and black slacks walks up to his brother and pats him on his broad shoulder.

"Hey bro. I'm heading out to Flameheart's. Do you want me to get you anything?" Papyrus looks up at his brother and then stands. He's fascinated by the news, but he'd rather hang out with his older brother.

"NO. I'LL COME WITH YOU, BROTHER. AS MUCH AS I HATE GREASY FOOD, I THINK I'LL SPLURGE TONIGHT." Papyrus says with a regal nod and a happy smile. Sans nods back and goes to the coat hanger at the front door and swings his dark brown coat over his shoulders, not putting his arms through.

Papyrus follows, putting on a grey coat over his white dress shirt. The two leave and head down the street. Gaster and Vrinda are out working late tonight as far as Papyrus has heard, so the boys often leave together to hang out.

"See anything interesting on the news bro?" Sans asks.

"I SUPPOSE SO. THERE WAS A ROBBERY ON BROOKLYN STREET, BUT THE ANCHOR SAID SOME MEMBER OF THE MAFIA ACTUALLY SAVED THE STORE BEING ROBBED. I'VE BEEN CONFLICTED ABOUT IF I LIKE THE MAFIA OR NOT. THEY'RE THE BAD GUYS! BUT THEY DO A LOT OF GOOD THINGS TOO." Papyrus folds his arms as he walks and sighs. Sans chuckles and shrugs.

"I think 'right in the middle' is probably the best place to be for something like that."

After getting a taxi ride to the other side of town, Sans pays the man and walks to the very brightly lit bar. The light bulb sign spells out "Flameheart's". The two walk in and the place is full of humans and monsters as usual. Sans looks over to the booth and waves.

At the counter is a pair of flame monsters. The one on the left is a darker red flame with what appears to be a pumpkin like smile in white light splitting his face. He seems happy. On the right is a lighter orange flame with rectangle glasses on. He nods to them as he cleans a glass very thoroughly. The brothers go and sit down at the stools.

"Hey Flameheart, Grillby." Sans says.

"HELLO YOU TWO!" Papyrus says. The flame monsters nod. Flameheart leans in to speak. His voice is whispery, raspy, low. Almost like a thousand matches being lit at the same time.

"Good evening you two. I hope you two drove over here and plan on driving back." Flameheart says. Papyrus raises his brows. An unusual warning from the older flame monster.

"WE TOOK A TAXI HERE. WHY SHOULD WE DRIVE BACK?" Papyrus says. Flameheart leans in a bit more and speaks quietly.

"There have been some very strange repeat robberies and muggings going on." Papyrus gasps and whispers, leaning in hard.

"DO YOU THINK THE MAFIA IS BEHIND IT?"

"Hm… I wouldn't be surprised actually." From Flameheart's peripheral, he can see Sans looking at him curiously. Papyrus isn't sure what that look on Sans' face means… It must be that Sans isn't surprised either!

"Anyway, enough about that. I just want you two to be safe. What would you both like tonight?" Flameheart says, back to his typical volume. Papyrus looks up at the back menu and rests his jaw on his palm. He's eaten almost everything here at least once. The majority of the drinks are things he's not allowed to have and doesn't want really. Alcohol. Bleh. But there is one thing he likes to get every time he visits.

"I'LL TAKE A SHIRLEY TEMPLE AND A SMALL ORDER OF FRIES."

"Pap, you don't mind if I get a drink do ya?" Sans says.

"NOT AT ALL, BROTHER. WE'LL BE TAKING A TAXI HOME ANYWAY. JUST DON'T GET WASTED. I DON'T THINK MOTHER AND FATHER WILL APPRECIATE YOU COMING HOME DRUNK. YOU KNOW HOW IT BOTHERS MOTHER."

"Yeah yeah, just one." Sans says and looks over at Grillby. "Just the usual." Flameheart rings it up and hands the order to his son. Grillby stops cleaning the glass and heads to the back. The door only opens when he or Flameheart touch the handle. It's a special door. The receipt pops out of the old, clanky, loud register and the total is all zeros. But this happens all the time. Flameheart often tells Papyrus that the register is just plain broken. But Sans knows why it's zero. And it's not because the register is broken.

The brothers eat and speak to the flame family for a couple hours, laughing and talking about the silly politics of other countries. Even Grillby cracks up a couple times and he's famous for being nearly mute.

Sans has more than one of his favorite alcoholic drink. A Bloody Mary with extra salt on the rim and two lemon halves. Papyrus warns him not to have another one and Sans admits defeat.

"I think we're gonna call it a night guys. The parents will be getting home soon and I gotta have this one home or /I'M/ the one that's gonna get in trouble." Sans says with a chuckle.

"I AM A GROWN MAN, I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF."

"Pay the bill then." The brothers look at each other and Papyrus huffs and also admits defeat. Sans chuckles darkly and gets out his wallet.

"Thought so. Pap, go snag us a ride would ya? While I pay up."

"FINE." Papyrus stands up and walks out, holding the door open for a pair of exiting human women in very nice outfits. They thank Papyrus and touch his square jaw sweetly in a drunken stride. Papyrus thinks he should get a cab for them first. Flameheart's warning echoes in his head. He can't let these nice ladies be harmed if he can help them!

Sans stays at the bar counter and very slowly counts out the money. "So what do you REALLY think of these robberies?"

"I'm certain they're from a small crime ring from New York. Their tactics are… shoddy. They seem like they're new. It's embarrassing actually, to watch them work. A few of them have come in here in fact." Flameheart says, pretending not to be talking to Sans at all and just making a drink for another customer.

"And? Think they're gonna be a problem?"

"No." Flameheart says with a near laugh. "In fact, most of them should be in jail by tonight." He gives Sans a knowing look and Sans raises his head and nods.

"Right. Thanks as always, you're a big help. See you later Grillby!" Sans says loud enough for a few people to hear. Grillby looks at him and nods to him in goodbye. Sans sets down the money plus a tip and walks off. Flameheart hesitantly takes the money and puts it in a jar under the counter.

Sans makes it outside and it's begun to rain a little. It's more of a misting than anything, but that's normal. He looks around and sees his brother helping one of the two drunken women into a cab. The second one gives Papyrus a very nice red lip stained kiss on the cheek until she flops in her seat and waves, the taxi driving off. Papyrus waves back and then slumps.

"Hehe, hey bro, the ladies getting' the best of you?" Sans says jokingly. "You got something on your face."

"THEY WERE QUITE DRUNK. AND AFTER WHAT FLAMEHEART TOLD US ABOUT TAKING A RIDE HOME, I COULDN'T LET THOSE WOMEN WALK HOME. ESPECIALLY NOT IN THOSE HEALS. DID YOU SEE THEM? WOWWIE, I DO NOT ENVY WOMEN." Papyrus nods to himself.

"Well that's nice of you bro. Always bein' the good guy. But uh… Where's our ride?" Sans says. Papyrus gasps and facepalms. Sans just laughs at him.

"It's alright bro. Those girls needed it more than we did. I think we can walk home just fine."

"IF YOU THINK SO THEN I SUPPOSE IT'S FINE… BUT OUR OUTFITS WILL GET WET AND MAKE OUR HARDWOOD FLOORS WARPED FROM THE WATER. I WONDER HOW MOTHER WOULD REACT TO HER PRECIOUS HARD WOOD FLOORS BEING RUINED…." Papyrus says, a small bit of anxiety in his voice. Sans chuckles nervously and nods.

"You're right, a taxi is a better idea… An angry mom is a scary mom." Sans steps out to the side of the sidewalk a bit more and raises an arm. An oncoming taximan pulls over immediately for them. They get inside and take a fifteen minute drive home. The traffic is surprisingly bad even at this hour. Papyrus notices the driver seems a bit nervous. He wonders why that is. And he's about to ask if the man is alright when they arrive at their home.

"Thanks bud." Sans says and pays the guy in cash. The man looks back and nods his thanks. Papyrus notices that Sans gives him double the amount they were asked for. The two exit the car and Papyrus waves at the driver.

"SANS, WHY DO YOU ALWAYS DOUBLE THE MONEY FOR CAB DRIVERS? I'VE NOTICED IT A LOT."

"Pap those poor taxi drivers have to deal with all sorts of people, work crappy hours in crappy weather conditions. Everyone relies on them to get them where they need to go and without them, things would be a bit harder for us all I think. So… I dunno. Makes me feel good to help people like that out." Sans says, unlocking the door to their home. Papyrus stares at his brothers' back for a moment, taking in the fact that his brother really is a good guy and that he's happy to be related to him.

Once inside the two tell each other good night and head off to their own spaces. Sans in his room and Papyrus takes the living room television. The screen is small and everything is in black and white. The nightly news goes right on.

"-and the fire was put out. And tonight, there was a robbery that happened on Wallburg and Greene Street. A pastry shop was set on fire by three human males. Police say that after they set the building on fire, they tried to make a run for it. But two individuals grabbed the men and tied them up, sitting them all together in a circle. Police arrived, but the two people that captured these criminals left just before anyone could see who they were. Rumors have spread that the two could be from a very prestigious Mafia family. It's yet to be seen if this is Mob related or not, or if they were just doing the right thing. So, to whoever you are, the owners of "Mark and Betty's Pastries" say: 'Thank you for catching the men that did this. When the store is fixed, please come in and have a free pastry of your choosing. '" The anchorman says. The sound of the mans' voice is gravelly and soothing. If Papyrus wasn't so interested in this story, the sound might have put him to sleep.

A small picture comes up on screen of a picture an officer took of the two saviors of the pastry shop. It appears to be a couple running away into the shadows. Their silhouettes are barely visible but… Papyrus can't shake the feeling he knows who those people are. That the two in the photo are familiar… Weirdly familiar…

No no, something like that could never be… The shadows look like his very own parents… But that's impossible. Papyrus shakes his head and turns the TV off, amazed that he could ever think of something so ridiculous. He must have had too many greasy fries or something. Pap gets up and goes to his room and goes to sleep.

It's only a couple hours later and Papyrus hears their front door open. His parents are home. His mind is foggy but he can hear them talking quietly. He hears his mom note that their sons are both home since their shoes are both there. Gaster tells her he's getting in the shower and quiet whispers and a giggle are foggy in Papyrus' mind. He falls asleep again, not hearing the pair of footsteps head to the bathroom together.

The next morning when Papyrus wakes up is strange. The first thing he thinks of is that crazy thought from last night. His parents were the ones to save that Pastry shop. Even if it was them, they couldn't be from the mafia. No no, that's silly. But why would they run away? Only a criminal would run away and not accept thanks and TV time. Papyrus shakes his head and gets dressed, heading out into the kitchen. Everything is normal. Dad is at the table reading the news paper with a coffee in his hand, mom is at the oven making some sort of breakfast… The only slightly unusual thing is that Sans is also at the table with a coffee. Sans never wakes up before Papyrus. But he looks like he's got a headache. He probably couldn't sleep because of those two drinks.

"GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!" Papyrus says with Zeal. Vrinda turns from the oven first and smiles sweetly at him, her yellow apron swaying with her.

"Good morning sweet heart! Are you feeling alright? Sans got in here an hour ago." Vrinda says jokingly.

"[SANS IS ONLY AWAKE BECAUSE HE'S SICK.]" Gaster says with a small chuckle. He's unusually against his children drinking, so seeing Sans suffer for his gluttony of alcohol is pleasing to him. It's punishment without having to deal it out himself. Even though Sans is legally allowed to drink… Papyrus still has one more year to go.

"I'll get over it…" Sans says.

"Papyrus honey, help me get the plates to the table?" Vrinda says. Papyrus happily goes over and helps his mom pick up several plates, one in each hand and another one next to it on their arms. Sans and Gaster take a few of the plates off of their hands. And arms…. Papyrus used to wonder why their parents didn't just use their magic to do everything, but they explained that it's a waste. If they can do it physically then they should, and save magic for it something important happens.

Everyone is sitting down now and eating. Papyrus loves his mothers' cooking. She's the only one that's good at it. Gaster has tried to help her in the past, but things always get burnt or over seasoned when he helps. Sans is just barely better, and only at dessert foods. He tried making a dessert quiche once and it didn't work out at all. Papyrus thinks he's good at cooking, but if he is, it's only because of his mom.

"SO MOTHER, FATHER, HOW WAS WORK YESTERDAY? YOU BOTH WERE GONE FOR QUITE A LONG TIME. YOU GOT HOME LATE I HEARD." Papyrus says, looking at his parents, subconsciously looking for any suspicious face twitches or… anything really.

"[IT WAS A LONG DAY. DIFFICULT. BUT IT ALL WORKED OUT.]" Gaster says, looking away from his paper to make eye contact with Papyrus. He always make eye contact when speaking. It's a rule that he's always enforced with the kids as well.

"Bunch of stuffed shirt guys honestly." Vrinda says, waving a hand with slight irritation.

"They think that only their ideas are the right ones. Sometimes I wonder why we work with them if they don't take our advice. What's the point?"

Papyrus didn't see anything different than normal… Ha. Haha! What a fool he is, to think his parents were out saving people like super heroes or something. They're just negotiators. Well, Pap supposes that's a different kind of life saving. Without them helping the FBI, people in hostage situations would be… Well, the cops would be cleaning up bodies instead of criminals.

"I HOPE THEY LEARN TO LISTEN TO YOU TWO. IT REALLY COULD BE A LIFE OR DEATH SITUATION IF THEY DON'T." Papyrus says.

"They'll learn to listen someday, honey. We're very good at our jobs after all." Vrinda smiles sweetly and the subject is utterly dropped.

"[SANS. HOW WERE FLAMEHEART AND GRILLBY DOING?]" Gaster says, lowering his paper a bit. Sans sits up straight from his pathetic folded position on the table and holds his head. Two drinks normally don't bother him so much. UGH.

"They were good. In high spirits. I actually got Grillby to crack up. And there were no fights in the bar either. It was a good night." Sans says with a small nod. Papyrus can see Vrinda giving Sans a sympathetic but amused look at his pain.

"[NO FIGHTS. THERE SHOULDN'T /BE/ FIGHTS. BUT IT'S GOOD TO HEAR THAT YOU TWO DIDN'T HAVE TO GET INVOLVED IN SOMETHING LIKE THAT ANYWAY.]" Gaster says. He folds the news paper and sets it aside to finally begin eating. Everyone knows that Gaster won't be speaking now until he's done with his food. So the remaining three shift whatever conversation to just them. Sans tells Vrinda how sweet Papyrus is helping a couple of drunk ladies into a cab. Of course Vrinda dotes over her youngest and gives him praise and kisses, glad that she was able to raise a gentleman.

The morning and day go about as normally as it always does. Breakfast is finished and the whole family clean their own dishes and dry them and put them away, then Gaster gets his stuff and leaves to work. Vrinda decides she's going to stay home though and clean the house. Sans gets a call from Civetta and he tells his mom and bro that he's gotta leave and help her out with something. There's a house that needs taken care of. Papyrus loves Civetta a lot. She baby sat him and Sans for many many years and as far as he can remember, she's worked as an electrician. Sometimes Sans goes and help which Papyrus used to think was weird because there's no way he's trained in that stuff. But it stopped being weird when Sans explained that he's small and can see and get into places that Civetta, a six foot seven owl monster, cannot.

All afternoon, Vrinda and Papyrus clean the entire house. The walls are scrubbed, the tub, sink and toilet cleaned, beds made, dishes rewashed in the sink, just in case! The floors are swept by Vrinda and Papyrus hand washes it. (He insisted that his mother should not have to get on her knees when HE'S there to do that kind of stuff.) Papyrus finds cleaning therapeutic, and so does his mom. So doing it together is fun and enjoyable. Once the two are done they even turn on the gramophone with a jazzy record on it. It's his moms' FAVORITE record. The two dance and laugh and don't even notice when Gaster comes back and stands in the doorway with his arms folded, watching them with a happy smile on his face. Papyrus spots him and blushes, embarrassed. But Vrinda just spins over to Gaster and gives him a sweet kiss.

It's a completely normal evening as well. Mom and dad go off to have a meeting with someone and Sans comes back from helping Civetta. Papyrus is busy doing school work. Homeschooled of course. Mom and dad explained years ago that because they work some important people, Papyrus might be in harm's way, especially with other kids who are pretty mean. So he's accepted that. Papyrus is close to graduating, so he works extra hard during the day and evenings usually.

"Pap, you're doin' good with school?" Sans says that night, taking off his overcoat and jacket, stretching with a yawn.

"OF COURSE I AM. I'M THE ONE WITH STRAIGHT A'S YOU KNOW…. I WONDER HOW MOTHER AND FATHER DO IT SANS. HOW CAN THEY WORK SO HARD AND STILL FIND TIME FOR US?"

Sans walks over to his brother and sits on the couch next to him, patting his leg.

"That's a silly question. They're our parents and they love us. They MAKE time somehow. I don't know how but they're just made that way. Work all day, grade papers and go to sleep. Can you imagine what it was like when BOTH of us were being schooled?" Sans leans back and folds his arms and closes his eyes.

"They're pretty amazing alright. But you know, now that I graduated a few years ago, there's more time to focus on you and your education. So don't get all misty eyed, just get it done and graduate with straight A's like you've always done. You're gonna be someone great Papyrus, I just know it." Papyrus looks from his paper over at his brother with a brow raised.

"WHO'S GETTING MISTY EYED?" Papyrus says. "IT'S NOT LIKE YOU TO PRAISE ME SO MUCH."

"To your face anyway. I dunno, I'm your big brother, can't I want the best for you?" The two look at each other with familiar smiles. Sans punches Papyrus' leg and Papyrus punches his arm. And so the distraction from education begins.

The two eventually stop wrestling each other into the ground and decide to watch the news. The weather's going to be rainy, politics are boring and that old man is still complaining about how the high school kids keep cutting through his lawn. But now Paps' favorite part of the news.

"Today, an apparent 'sit down' went wrong at a home over at West and Burkley." An anchor woman says. A picture comes up of a house, playing footage from that afternoon.

"Just twenty minutes ago, five members of the Bonano family mafia and two other unknown people were inside when a car drove by and threw a bomb at the home. It's thought to have been a rivaling mob family. Three of the five members of the Bonano family were killed in the blast while the two unknown persons weren't there when police arrived. The remaining two Bonano members refused to tell police who they were, but insisted that they had nothing to do with the murder of their family... In other possible mafia related news, this morning a dead man was found hung upside down by his feet with paper attached to his chest labeling him 'traitor'. But the suspected perps didn't leave quick enough, because the man who found this strange scene took a picture." On the screen, a picture comes up of two running people. The resemblance is frightening. The two look just like their parents. The picture goes away and the woman keeps taking. But Papyrus isn't listening.

"SANS! DID YOU SEE THAT? AREN'T THOSE TWO... MOM AND DAD?" Pap asks and looks at Sans with wide sockets. But Sans seems to be as relaxed and bored as he always is.

"What? Don't be ridiculous bro. Mom and dad wouldn't do something like that. You're seeing things." Sans brushes it off quickly, confident in his words. But Papyrus knows what he saw... those two people. He's lived with them his whole life. He thinks he knows what his own parents look like...

Later on, when the two go in their own rooms, Papyrus doesn't sleep. He's in shock... his parents... did they really kill that man and put him on display like that? Could his parents have been lying to him this whole time?... They always have a convenient excuse for things... A home caught on fire somewhere? They had a printer catch fire at work. They come home with wounds? A minor set back with an uncooperative hostile party. Always excuses. But Papyrus seriously wonders what he would do if he found out his parents were bad guys... And Sans... He has to know about this. Sometimes he goes out with them for work...

From the front door Papyrus hears his parents coming in. It's midnight. Papyrus puts his ear to the door to listen carefully.

"[OW... OW...]" Gaster says. It sounds like Vrinda is holding up a limping husband. "[THOSE BASTARDS...]"

"Shh. I'll fix you up in the bathroom. Just a little longer honey." A tired sounding Vrinda leads the two of them to their bathroom across the house. But Papyrus does his best to keep listening... He can't hear anything but a little bit of shuffling and a possible curse from his father... Why is he hurt though?... If that person running from the dead man was his dad, then it didn't happen this morning... But the two unidentified people in that house bombing... that happened just a bit ago. Could those two that went missing been them? It would make sense for them to take this long getting home if Gaster's leg was injured. Why didn't they take a cab? Unless they didn't want a driver to snitch on them...

He can't believe this. This can't be true. Maybe Sans is right. He's seeing things... Maybe his dad's leg got hurt because... he rolled his ankle on the sidewalk or something. Maybe a dog ran up to him and bit him. But then, who are "those bastards?"... He can't think of an excuse for that... Papyrus considers going out there and asking what happened... But he's tired... He's sure it'll be fine in the morning... Surely...

()

The next morning is another normal one, but now Papyrus can't stop himself from looking at everything differently... Dad reading the paper, his leg appearing fine. Mom making breakfast, humming a sad sounding tune she'd sing to them at night sometimes. It calms her down too. No Sans, as is typical.

"Morning Sweeeeeet heart.~" Vrinda says cheerfully. Pink apron today.

"GOOD MORNING MOTHER. MORNING DAD."

"[HELLO PAPYRUS. DID YOU SLEEP WELL?]" Gaster says with a smile.

"HM... YES." Papyrus says hesitantly. Gaster gives him a curious look.

"[THAT DIDN'T SOUND VERY SURE. ARE YOU ALRIGHT?]"

Papyrus looks at his father's curious face. He expects to see a dark look in his dad, like a bad guy would have. But all he sees is a genuinely curious happy looking father. There's no way this kind man who would spin him in the air as a baby and belly laugh when Papyrus would smear food on his face could ever be a bad person...

"AH, YES, I THINK I HAVE A CRICK IN MY NECK IS ALL."

"[I WONDER IF YOU 'PULLED A MUSCLE' WHEN YOU AND YOUR MOM WERE DANCING YESTERDAY.]" Gaster says with a smirk.

"Papi dearest, come sit. As usual your brother is still sleep, but I'm sure that when he smells what I made he'll spring right off of that mattress." Vrinda says with a big happy smile. Papyrus can't see a bad bone in her body. She's far too sweet to be a bad guy. Making chocolate chip cookies and playing on the floor with him growing up… Sans must be right. He was completely over thinking what he saw.

Papyrus sits down and his mom sets a beautiful breakfast of ham, eggs and mashed potatoes garnished with some green leafy stuff down. Pap can never remember the name. Toast and orange juice are also set down.

"IT'S BEAUTIFUL MOTHER. SANS WELL SURELY REGRET MISSING THIS." Papyrus says with a small grin.

"I could never miss out on mom's cooking." Sans voice says. He comes out in some silly pajamas that he bought ironically but now seriously loves. Pink and frilly. Papyrus snerks at his brother at the same time Vrinda does.

"Hey, don't laugh. They're super soft." Sans says, waking over and rubbing his sockets. Papyrus can't hold his laughter in much longer as his brother sits down.

"S-SANS THEY'RE UTTERLY RIDICULOUS! WHY DID YOU BUY THOSE? EVEN IRONICALLY-"

"Hey hey hey, don't get your underwear all 'ruffled' up." Sans says, giving double finger pistols and a wink. Papyrus slumps and glares.

"DON'T TELL ME YOU BOUGHT THOSE JUST SO YOU COULD MAKE THAT TERRIBLE JOKE."

"I won't tell you then." Sans says with a shrug. The parent's chuckle under their breath. Everything is normal.

The rest of the morning and afternoon. Typical. Papyrus thinks he must have messed up, thinking his family were bad people. What a crazy thought.

Sans leaves on what sounds like urgent business. The parents leave for a thankfully late shift so this leaves Papyrus alone for the night. Papyrus decides to head out on the town before all the shops close to look for gifts for everyone just because he's in such a great mood now. But while on the way into town on a walk, he feels a drop on the top of his skull.

"AH, I FORGOT... THE NEWS SAID IT'D RAIN." Papyrus says to himself. He's already made it to town, but the sky is looking gloomier by the second. He may have to just hide someplace to avoid it.

Papyrus walks around and window shops for about half an hour until the drops start to become worrisome. He decides it's time to go inside someplace. People are either getting out their umbrellas, hiding under their coats or going inside somewhere. Papyrus sees a place he thinks will do nicely until he hears someone yelling. Instantly his senses are heightened. Someone is in trouble…. It's dark and late. The first thing that pops into his head is that awful thought from before. That his parents being bad guys. What if he catches them in the act of something?... No no, it must be something else.

Many huge strides take Papyrus through the now pouring rain in the darkness until he gets to an alley where he hears two voices. One is trembling in fear and the other…..

"So you think you're gonna mess with /MY/ family huh? You think you and your little toy soldiers are gonna hurt my family and not get away with it? You threw a bomb at the house my parents were in bub, and my dad-… It's something that can't be overlooked." Sans says darkly. He's standing in front of a young man who's pinned to a brick building with blue magic. The guy looks pretty beat up…

"I-I-I was ordered to! I didn't even want to go, they dragged me! P-please! Please I'm sorry!" The young man says in a shaking nearly sobbing voice. Sans is quiet for a second, reading the guy. He relaxes his gaze and steps away, letting his magic dissipate. Sans takes a step forward and brushes the guys shoulders off a little, clearly in a mocking way.

"If I ever catch you around here, kid… Well let's just say you are REALLY not gonna like what happens next. Capiche?" Says Sans. Papyrus' eyes go huge and he can feel what should be his heart plummeting. He's never heard his brother talk like that before… His voice low and menacing. The intent to hurt someone. It's horrifying…. His very own brother. Is… bad?

"C-capiche!" The guy says. Sans knocks him down to the ground and he falls into a small puddle. The guy scrambles to his feet and runs away, breathing hard and shaking from fear. Sans stands there and watches him go. He sighs and adjusts his trilby hat on his head. Papyrus backs up slowly. No… He's going to get caught! Sans turns around and walks towards him, but Papyrus is unable to move from the crashing feelings in his ribs. This is a bad dream.

"S-SANS." Papyrus says quietly. Sans gets up to him and his eyes are wide, seemingly scared that he's been caught by the one person he didn't want to see right then.

"Pap… Heeey Papyrus what are you doin' out here?" Sans says. Awkwardly trying to adjust his stance and demeanor.

"SANS… WHAT… WHAT WAS… THAT?..."

"What was what?"

"THAT!" Papyrus says louder now. He looks so… betrayed. Sans just looks down a little and… is so mortified. He can't believe his baby brother saw him like that….

"It was exactly what it looked like." Sans says lowly. The sound of the rain almost blocks it out, but Papyrus heard him loud and clear…

"YOU…. YOU'RE GOING TO EXPLAIN THIS TO ME /RIGHT NOW/ SANS." Papyrus is still hoping very hard that this isn't what it looks like. He wants this to not be real.

"I guess I am…. Fine. I'll tell you the truth. But not out here. Mom's gonna get mad if we go home all wet."

Papyrus can't believe what he's hearing! The TRUTH? And Sans is saying all this while reminding him that their mom is going to get mad? Why is he so CALM about this?

But Sans isn't calm. He's been hiding this for YEARS. His whole life he's been keeping this life a secret from his baby brother….. His blue soul beats hard in his chest.

He knows this is going to be a very long night for his family.


	3. Chapter 2

((Another note, I'm not gonna be editing these AT ALL. I'm copy/pasting them on here. So, sorry not sorry.))

Sans leads Papyrus to the curb and hails a taxi. The driver sees Sans and pulls over immediately. Papyrus thinks he's knows now why the divers are so nice to him and Sans...

The drive is silent and only when they pull up to "Flameheart's" bar does anyone speak.

"Thanks." Sans says and pays double the fare, just like always. The driver looks confused for a second, but then smiles at Sans. Papyrus remembers what Sans told him the other day about why he does that... Pap feels so torn.

The two head into the bar and there really aren't many people tonight. Sans gives a weird wave to Flameheart and Grillby. The two look at him with slight shock... but Flameheart goes to the special flame door and opens it then steps aside. Sans leads Papyrus to the door. Papyrus looks at his fire friends as he walks by and can't believe this... They knew all along too, didn't they?

Inside the room are several dimly lit red lights, ten beautiful thick chairs and a gorgeous mahogany table in the center of the chairs. In the middle of the table are several magazines and newspapers, a few blue crystal ash trays and a tall, thin vase with a few yellow roses in it.

"Have a seat Pap." Sans says and sits down in a seat specially marked for him with magically glowing blue words that say "Comic Sans." It goes away once he sits on it. Pap notices there doesn't seem to be a chair specifically for him. Why?

Papyrus takes a seat at a chair across from his brother and can't help but feel the weight of this room... Is this what it feels like to regular people when they come here to get interrogated or something? Is this an interrogation room at all?

"Alright bro... I guess... Questions?" Sans says, trying to keep chill, but he still can't believe this any more than Papyrus can. A long pause.

"I MEAN… ARE YOU A PART OF THE MAFIA?..."

"Yeah." Another pause.

"ARE MOM AND DAD?"

"Yeah." Papyrus clenches his skeletal fists in his lap.

"HOW LONG HAS THIS BEEN GOING ON?"

"Since before you were even born. Our parents were kids when they joined."

Papyrus stays quiet for a while... He has so many questions. But they all seem to come out in the wrong order.

"WHY- HOW... HOW DID YOU GET TO JOIN BUT NOT ME? WHY WASN'T I TOLD ABOUT THIS? WHAT WAS SO DIFFERENT ABOUT ME—WHY WAS IT THAT I COULDN'T BE INFORMED OF THIS?!" Papyrus half grits out and half yells. Sans' sockets go wide... and then he relaxes back in his seat.

"Pap... I got in because I wanted to. I worked really hard to get in. But honestly half of the work was just trying to convince mom that I should be allowed in at all. She's already seen a lot of stuff and didn't want that for me. Or for you. I've almost been killed several times bro. Mom and dad and I didn't want this sort of life for you." Sans sinks into his chair and finally takes his hat off.

"Papyrus we love you very much. We want you to get an education. A real job. A life where you can go outside and not have a gun to your back at all times. We all wanted the best for you... So we made everyone keep it a secret. If you never found out then you couldn't be swallowed up by this life... Can't you understand now? We didn't tell you because we were trying to protect you... I know mom and dad are scared that you won't make it in this business. You're... too nice. Too innocent. And I'm off the mind that you don't belong in the mafia bro."

Papyrus looks up at his brother now, the two making eye contact.

"I UNDERSTAND... BUT... I GUESS I'LL HAVE TO ASK MOM AND DAD WHY THIS ALL STARTED... DID... DID THEY KILL THAT MAN WHO WAS HUNG UPSIDE DOWN?"

"No." Sans says quickly.

"What you saw on tv last night. Those people who were running away were mom and dad. I admit, I lied to you. But they DIDN'T put him there. They were trying to get him down..." Sans says. Papyrus raises his brows and leans in a little bit, curious.

"That guy helped us when he was working for an opposing family. So when his captain found out, a hit was ordered. Our parents were trying to help get him down when that schmuck with the camera rolled up and chased them away. We do our best to stay as hidden as we can because we didn't want you to get involved or hurt. And they certainly didn't want you to see them on the news and start asking questions."

"AND… THAT EXPLOSION. I HEARD YOU TALKING TO THAT MAN JUST NOW. HE WAS THERE WHEN THE BOMB WAS THROWN AT THAT HOUSE. MOM AND DAD REALLY WERE THERE? WHY DID THOSE PEOPLE TRY TO KILL OUR PARENTS AND THOSE OTHERS?"

"The family that threw that bomb hates the Bonano family. And they hate us too. And somehow a snitch from the Bonano family got the information over to the other guys. They thought they'd kill two birds with one stone. So they drove up and threw a homemade bomb at the house. Only the guys sitting right against the front wall were killed. Mom and dad were sitting towards the back of the room. They don't ever sit near windows during a sit down for reasons just like that. Dad's leg got hurt pretty bad though. The blast from the debris cracked his leg and almost broke it in half. And mom got nicked a bunch too. But they're pretty good healers so they were able to make sure they looked good as new so they didn't look different or off to you the next morning."

"I… I HEARD THEM COME HOME." Papyrus says looking at is knees, the memory of his parents coming in sounding hurt. They WERE hurt. Badly… But they still did everything they could to not let Papyrus in….

"IT TOOK THEM A LONG TIME TO GET HOME. I WAS… I ALREADY SUSPECTED THAT SOMETHING WAS FISHY AFTER THAT NEWS STORY. BUT THEN THEY CAME HOME AND I FELT LIKE ALL THE PIECES WERE COMING TOGETHER. ALL THE EXCUSES, THE NEW CLOTHES BECAUSE OLD ONES WOULD GET RUINED SOMEHOW."

"Hm…. So they slipped up and you heard… No… No, I was the one that slipped up. You shouldn't have seen me." Papyrus looks up at Sans from his knees and feels something strange inside of him….

"SO… MOM AND DAD DON'T WORK FOR THE FBI AT ALL. AND YOU DON'T EITHER. AND… WHAT ABOUT FLAMEHEART AND GRILLBY? CIVETTA?"

"Nah, nobody works for the FBI. Flameheart and Grillbz work for our family and so does Civetta."

"SO… THEY'RE FORCED TO WORK-"

"No." Sans says quickly, holding a hand up.

"That ain't how the mafia works in real life bro. At least not OUR family. We never force anyone to work with us or for us. We offer people help and then actually give it to them, no strings attached. If they wanna join, they ask us. Mom and dad will explain later when I tell them…. Phew, I'm glad I'm not a kid anymore because I'd be grounded as hell for telling you this… And for even getting caught." Sans looks down at his knees and scratches his skull.

"THIS…. THIS IS STUPID." Papyrus suddenly says under his breath. Sans looks up at him curiously.

"What?"

"I SAID THIS IS STUPID!" Papyrus yells, throwing his long arms in the air. "I UNDERSTAND THAT THEY WANTED TO PROTECT ME… BUT I'M A PART OF THIS FAMILY TOO AND I SHOULD HAVE BEEN TOLD ABOUT /SOMETHING!/ I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU, MY OWN BROTHER, DIDN'T SAY SOMETHING. EVEN AS KIDS YOU NEVER TOLD ME! YOU HAVE TO TELL ME BECAUSE I ALMOST WATCHED YOU MURDER SOMEONE?! WHAT IF I SAW YOU KILL HIM? WOULD YOU KILL ME TOO? BECAUSE I SAW TOO MUCH?" Papyrus stands up, his whole world crashing around him like popped balloons. Sans stands up too and holds his hands out trying to plead with his brother. The "Comic Sans" magic words reappear on his chair.

"No no Pap, don't be ridiculous I'd never—"

"ARE YOU SURE? WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO IF I LEAVE?! ARE YOU GOING TO SHOOT ME IN THE BACK OR SOMETHING?!" Sans shakes his head with wide eyes, trying to think of something to say… But he just relaxes and then puts his hands up in defeat. He speaks quietly.

"If you wanna leave I'm not going to stop you. And I'd never EVER hurt you Papyrus…. Not ever. You mean too much to me bro. I know we kept this a secret, but I already told you my part. We wanted to keep you safe. And that's no lie and no joke…"

Papyrus stares at his brother hard and can see no malice. He's so confused…. Pap shakes his head and walks out of the room and into the bar. Not a single look is given to Flameheart or Grillby as he storms out of the bar into the street in the darkness.

He just saw a couple different sides of his brother and none of them are as cool or as flowery as he'd imagine they'd be. The world he apparently made up… It's like a forest that he took good care of and planted every tree and flower himself. But it's all being set on fire now. Everything he thought was true and good is going away and being replaced with a completely different world…

Not only were his parents and brother not the good guys…. They were the BAD guys… But Sans' words echo in his skull. Their parents didn't kill that man. They were trying to get him down. What is he going to do? He HAS to go home, there's nowhere else for him to go… Fine then. He'll ask his parents about this whole thing when they get home. This farce has to end, and if his parents won't, then he will.

Papyrus makes it home and sits on the couch, lying in wait for his mom and dad to come back from their "JOBs."

()

It's not long. An hour maybe. Papyrus hears the front door being wiggled and he can hear his mom commenting on how someone didn't lock the door. The two pop their heads in warily, but when they see Papyrus, they relax.

"[EVENING, PAPYRUS.]" Gaster says.

"What's the matter honey? You look upset." Vrinda says, walking in next to Gaster and shutting the door.

Papyrus is nervous. But he's determined.

"HOW WAS WORK?" He asks. Gaster hears the tone and looks at him, almost unbelieving.

"[IT WAS FINE?... WHAT'S WRONG?]" The parents take a few steps towards Papyrus, worried something has happened. And something has…

"TELL ME THE TRUTH." Papyrus says. Vrinda and Gaster's brows pull together.

"The truth honey?" Vrinda says. From nowhere, Sans walks in and leans against the door frame, hands in his pant pockets. Gaster looks back at him and stares at him, asking silently 'what is going on?'

"YOU TWO DO NOT WORK FOR THE FBI. I KNOW WHAT YOU TWO REALLY DO… YOU'RE IN THE MAFIA AND YOU… YOU'RE BAD GUYS!" Papyrus finally blurts out. The parents are stunned, eyes wide. They're completely speechless. Vrinda finally looks down at her clutched hands sadly… Then she looks at Sans with a look the short skeleton hasn't seen before. Actual anger towards him.

"What did you tell him?..." She says. Says looks to the side, trying to hide how irritated his is right now.

"I told him the truth. I went out to talk to the guy that bombed you and Pap found me somehow. It was hard to deny and he already figured it out pretty much. I knew you guys weren't going to tell him ever so as the big brother, I was the one that was going to tell him."

"Sans you KNOW how hard we worked to keep this from happening!" Vrinda says, turning towards him now. Sans stands up straight from the doorframe.

"Papyrus isn't an idiot. I told you and even dad told you that Papyrus was going to find out someday. He's smart—"

"And that's why he doesn't belong in this sort of life!"

"I AM STANDING RIGHT HERE!" Papyrus shouts. The family all look at him, jaw tight and eyebrows pulled together.

"[THAT'S ENOUGH EVERYONE… LET'S GO HAVE A FAMILY SIT DOWN.]" Gaster says. He walks to a hallway and pushes a small square on a back wall. The wall opens up into a door. Papyrus' jaw drops.

"THIS IS INFURIATING! I'VE LIVED IN THIS HOUSE MY ENTIRE LIFE AND I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THAT?!" He says, gesturing wildly to the button.

"[HUSH.]" Gaster says flatly. Papyrus can feel the fatherly weight on him… So he quiets down and follows Gaster. Sans and then Vrinda follow him. The concrete room is just a bit smaller than the room at Flameheart's but it really only fits the four of them anyway. Four well cushioned chairs are there. Three of them all have names. "WDGASTER" spelled out in purple wingdings, "Vrinda", spelled with yellow magic, and the same

"Comic Sans" from Grillby's on the third chair. The fourth chair has nothing on it. It pulls at Papyrus that he was excluded...

"[SIT DOWN EVERYONE. WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A TALK.]" Gaster says. Everyone takes a seat in their chairs, Papyrus between Vrinda on his right and Sans on his left and across from his dad. A small circular table is in the center with an identical tall vase but this time with a few different colored roses.

"[PAPYRUS, TELL ME HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT KNOWING WHAT YOU KNOW NOW. I CAN FEEL THAT YOU'RE ONE FOOT ON ONE SIDE AND ANOTHER FOOT ON THE OTHER.]"

"I... I... I'M... IT'S HARD TO EXPLAIN. I KNOW WHAT'S GOOD AND I KNOW WHAT'S BAD... I THOUGHT FOR MY WHOLE LIFE THAT YOU TWO WERE NEGOTIATORS FOR THE FBI. THE GOOD GUYS. BUT... KNOWING NOW THAT YOU LIED TO ME ALL THIS TIME AND YOU WERE ACTUALLY BAD... I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE IT. BUT AT THE SAME TIME... I UNDERSTAND WHY YOU DIDN'T TELL ME. SANS TOLD ME." Papyrus says. Vrinda nods.

"We love you so much. And if lying to you kept you safe then I'd do it all over again. I wish we had done the same for Sans. But he find out, just like you did Papyrus." She says with a sigh. Gaster crosses one leg over the other and observes...

"Sans asked us when he was for years old. And if course I was completely against it. Dad was too. But Sans was determined. As he got older he never ever changed his mind. We did our best to keep him away from this. And when you were born he wanted in even more... And when he finally got inducted and started doing bigger jobs, people came after him. He nearly died several times because he was related to us. Papyrus honey, can you imagine how dad and I felt knowing that because of US one of our children almost died? I knew that I never wanted that for you. So dad and I decided to keep this a secret as much as we could for as long as we could..."

Papyrus listens to his mom and nods a bit. But trying to picture her in her pink apron cooking breakfast feels weird now...

"[YOUR MOM IS RIGHT. BUT NOW THE JIG IS UP. AND I NEED TO KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO DO PAPYRUS.]"

"Gaster..." Vrinda says quietly, giving him a look.

"[IT'S IMPORTANT THAT I KNOW. THAT WE KNOW, VRINDA. PAPYRUS.]" Gaster says, looking directly at Papyrus. The youngest skeleton straightens up and gulps.

"[YOU THINK WE'RE THE BAD GUYS. BUT I'M GOING TO REASSURE YOU THAT WE'RE NOT. WE DON'T JUST GO OUT AND MURDER PEOPLE. IN FACT, WE'D REALLY RATHER NOT. WHAT WE DO IS MAKE SURE THIS TOWN IS SAFE. WE PROTECT PEOPLE SON, AND IF THEY'RE THREATENED, WE TAKE CARE OF IT. IF WE SEE A HOMELESS PERSON WE OFFER THEM DID AND SHELTER SOMEWHERE. IF SOMEONE STEALS A WOMAN'S PURSE AND WERE AROUND, WE GET IT BACK AND SEND THE THIEF TO JAIL. IF SOMEONE THREATENS TO MOVE IN ON OUR CITY, WE TALK. IF THEY TRY TO HURT US, WE FIGHT BACK. WE TRY TO WORK WITH ALL OF THE FAMILIES THAT WILL COOPERATE WITH US AND SET UP DEALS WHERE EVERYONE IS HAPPY AND SAFE... I'LL ADMIT, WHEN YOU'RE MOM AND I FIRST STARTED THIS, WE WERE... VENGEFUL. AND WE GOT OUT REVENGE. AND IT FELT GOOD. BUT WE WERE KIDS AND WE DIDN'T REALLY KNOW WHAT IT MEANT TO BE A MAFIA FAMILY. THE MAN THAT SAVED US WAS KILLED AND THAT'S WHEN WE KNEW. WE WANTED REVENGE AGAIN... BUT WHILE WE WERE TRYING TO GET IT, WE SAW SO MUCH MORE. CRIME WAS RAMPANT. INJUSTICE WAS WIDE SPREAD. WE DIDN'T WANT TO WASTE TIME ON REVENGE AGAIN WHEN WE COULD BE HELPING PEOPLE. AND NOW THAT'S WHAT WE DO. SO WE ARE THE GOOD GUYS. JUST IN A MORE ORTHODOX WAY THAN YOU WERE IMAGINING.]"

Papyrus thinks seriously about this...

"SANS SAID THAT THE MAN WHO WAS KILLED AND HUNG UPSIDE DOWN WAS HELPING YOU..."

"[THAT'S RIGHT. HE WAS A DOUBLE AGENT. HE WORKED PRIMARILY FOR A FAMILY THAT'S AGAINST US AND THE BONANO FAMILY, WHO WE'RE WORKING WITH NOW. HE WAS THE ONE THAT ALLOWED US TO ARRANGE THE MEETING WITH THE BONANO'S. BUT HIS BOSS FOUND OUT AND HAD HIM KILLED AND MADE AN EXAMPLE OF... WE FELT AWFUL ABOUT HIM BEING PUT ON DISPLAY LIKE THAT, SO WE WENT TO GET HIM. BUT WE COULDN'T GO IT BECAUSE SOME HEH WAS THERE WITH A CAMERA. AND WE COULDN'T HAVE YOU SEEING US ON TV NEXT TO THAT SCENE, SO WE HAD TO RUN. THE BOMBING THAT HAPPENED THAT SAME DAY AFTERWARDS WAS FROM THE FAMILY THAT DEAD GUY WORKED FOR. THEY HEARD ABOUT THE MEETING AND THOUGHT THEY'D TAKE US ALL OUT. BUT WE BARELY GOT OUT. THE CAPTAIN WHO WAS RUNNING THE MEETING TOLD US TO RUN, SO WE DID. AND TRUE TO HIS WORD, HE DIDN'T SNITCH ON US. A VERY GOOD SIGN OF FAITH...]"

Sans watches Vrinda wring her skeletal hands nervously.

"SO... WHAT IF... I WANTED TO HELP YOU?" Gaster can't stop a sideways smile, while Vrinda tightens her jaw.

"Honey, wait come on, think about this more. Don't... don't you want to do something else? Be a doctor? They help people a lot too! Or- or a gardener! One of the last dangerous jobs there are. You haven't even graduated yet, don't you want to see where all that education takes you?" She says almost pleadingly. She knows exactly where this is going...

"IF I CAN HELP YOU HELP OTHER PEOPLE THEN I WANT TO DO THAT. I WANT TO HELP, I WANT TO WORK WITH MY FAMILY IF I CAN!" Papyrus says to her. Vrinda leans forward and then turns to the side to face Pap in her chair.

"If you were ordered to kill someone, could you really do it?"

Papyrus is quiet now... No, of course not...

"Ma, if something like that comes up, he won't have to be the one to do it anyway." Sans says, implying that it'll be him. Vrinda gives Sans a look that says 'You're not helping' and leans back in her chair.

"[PAPYRUS, WE'LL GIVE YOU TIME TO THINK. MOM IS RIGHT. THIS IS A BIG CHOICE YOU'RE MAKING... YOU CAN'T JUMP INTO IT. AND JUST KNOW. THIS ISN'T A JOB YOU CAN QUIT... ONCE YOU'RE IN YOU CAN'T LEAVE. EVER. THE ONLY WAY TO GET OUT IS TO DIE. AND NONE OF US WANT THAT FOR YOU. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?]" Gaster says with seriousness. Papyrus nods.

"I WILL THINK ABOUT IT."

"[AND NOW THAT YOU KNOW ALL OF THIS, YOU'RE SWORN TO SECRECY. YOU CAN'T TELL ANYONE ANYTHING EVER.]"

"WHAT WOULD HAPPEN... IF I DID?" Pap asks and immediately regrets it. Gaster shakes his head a little.

"[DON'T LET IT HAPPEN AND YOU'LL NEVER HAVE TO KNOW... ANYWAY, I'D CALL THIS SIT DOWN OVER.]" Gaster stands up and straightens his suit and loosens his tie. Vrinda stands with him and puts her hand on Papyrus' shoulder.

"Help me with dinner?" She asks. Pap nods and stands up. He hears dad and Sans leave and then decides to ask about the chairs.

"MOTHER, I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THE CHAIRS DO. I'VE NOTICED THEY'RE STRANGE."

"Yes well... this is a family thing. I don't think anyone else does it. When we're inducted, we set these chairs up with our own magic so we can talk to each other magically without another part hearing us. But also do we can keep an eye on each other. So if dad has to do something alone, I can sit in his chair to talk to him and make sure he's okay. Sans can sit in his own chair and listen in on things. The chairs do a lot of things... and if any of us are dusted, their name will disappear. The magic will disappear... That fourth chair was going to be yours. But I argued with your dad a lot over even putting it in this room... Sweet heart, I REALLY want you to think about this. Don't make me watch you get hurt, or worse..."

"I KNOW MOTHER. BUT… I REALLY WANT TO HELP YOU ALL. I… I WANT TO BE INCLUDED THIS TIME. AND IF I JOIN I'LL DO MY BEST TO STAY OUT OF DANGEROUS SITUATIONS…. YOU KNOW, SANS TOLD ME THAT THIS LIFE IS SCARY BECAUSE I COULD HAVE A GUN TO MY BACK… BUT WHAT IF…. WHAT IF /I'M/ THE GUN IN THE BACK? THEN THERE WON'T BE MUCH OF A PROBLEM RIGHT?" Papyrus says, trying to smile for his mom. Vrinda just sighs and rubs her face with one hand.

"You boys are all so stubborn… No matter what you choose, you're my son and I love you so much. I just want you to be safe… and happy and healthy… It's what every mom wants. I'm going to baby you for as long as I can, hear me?"

Papyrus chuckles a little and hugs Vrinda. She squishes him and kisses his cheek.

"I HEAR YOU. NOW. LET'S GO MAKE A GREAT DINNER." Papyrus says. The two walk out of the room and do in fact make a great and delicious dinner. Pap looks at his family again, in another new way. So they may not be good guys the way he pictured them, but they appear to be good guys regardless. Papyrus wonders what else he'll see if he joins them…


	4. Chapter 3

The next day, Papyrus wakes up to the sounds of his parents and Sans getting ready to leave. He wonders why they can't tell him they're leaving now that he knows what they're doing. But maybe it's just an old habit. And yet he can't imagine his mom not telling him where they're going…. So he waits until they leave at 12:00 PM to get dressed quickly… so that he can follow them.

"I WONDER WHAT I'LL SEE TODAY…" He says to himself nervously and excitedly. Papyrus leaves his jacket at home because he knows it'll be hot, so he just leaves in some brown pants and a white button up shirt with some stylish brown and orange striped suspenders.

Once outside, he waits until his family is pretty far away down the brick street to start following them… He's sure he can do this without getting caught! It can't be that hard to be stealthy, even if he is quite tall…

After fifteen minutes of following them, he watches them go into a small little plaza like area full of little stores and café's… but from this angle he can't see them all… Papyrus looks to the building he's standing near and quickly sneaks in. It's an apartment building… woops. He'd better make this quick then.

Papyrus rushes up the stairs three at a time until he makes it to the top floor and onto the roof. He goes to the edge and lays on his stomach to look down at the little circular plaza. He always liked this place. Vrinda and Gaster would always take him and Sans here as kids to eat cheesecake and drink imported tea.

He can see everyone now.

Sans sits almost directly under Papyrus at a café with white metal seats and orders a coffee while his parents station themselves in other spots and appear to otherwise be shopping for things. They blend in pretty well Papyrus thinks. If he didn't know who they were he'd never notice.

Almost as if on cue, a small group of guys, one of them being the guy that Sans confronted last night, walk into the plaza from its' North side. There are six of them in total.

"Did you see the look on Bananno jr's face?" The first man asks. All of these guys look like the just hit their twenties…. Why are they acting like this when they're so young? How did they even get IN so young?... Papyrus wonders if they're in training….

"Who DIDN'T? His ugly mug was all over TV. It felt pretty good to toss that bomb at the house you know? To show them who's boss around here!" The second man says.

"The Genovese family doesn't fuck around, we take care of business!" A third man nearly shouts, as if to let eeeverybody know who they're with. And everyone CAN hear them. Including the Gaster family spread around the plaza.

Papyrus notices that people don't seem very frightened at all. As if they hear it all the time. Or unless they know they're safe… It becomes clear when a few people glance over at his parents and brother occasionally, watching them. It's true then, they know they're safe because the Gaster family is there….

But how could they know them?... Well… his parents DID say they help people when they need it… so Papyrus guesses it'd make sense for these random people to know what the people who saved them look like.

Papyrus sees that the gangsters realize that the people aren't budging for them. That they aren't scared by the males' mere presence. It bothers one of them more than the others…. So he decides to use force. Papyrus watches, his magical stomach in knots, when he sees the angrier man go up to a pretty woman and grab her wrist. The man yanks her up out of her seat and smirks at her like a right creep…. He leans into her ear and… Well, he must have said something very unpleasant, because she pulls at her wrist and glares at the man with fury he doesn't often see on women's faces.

Behind the group of males, is the one guy who Sans talked to. He looks like a nervous wreck and he just rubs his arm, clearly not wanting to be a part of this gross situation…

When the angry man leans in to give the girl a kiss or say something else creepy, his soul turns blue. The other five guys' souls turn blue as well. The nervous guy is excluded. The five men are lifted into the air, yelling and flailing, confused and scared. Sans walks over from his chair and stands almost under them with his head lowered, raising his left hand to hoist them a bit higher. He slams the guys down and bounces them like rubber balls on the ground several times. It's not enough to seriously damage them, but enough to rough them up plenty. Papyrus watches the townspeople cover their mouths in quiet jeers.

When Sans is done, he lifts them up once more.

"What'd you have to say to the nice lady?" He asks. The dudes are silent, minus the groaning and whining. They refuse to talk to this guy whose face they can't see…

"If you can't say it to me, then why'd you say it to her huh? You're not very gentlemanly. Poor excuses for men. Or... are you just chicken when someone stronger than you shows up? I think all of the above." Sans says with a grin, looking at the woman who was being harassed. She smiles at him and rubs her wrist. Her male friend hugs her from the side looking very unhappy about the creeps touching what must be his girlfriend. From Papyrus' height, he watches the nervous guy sneak off behind a building and then make a run for it.

"Who the FUCK are YOU supposed to be short stack?!" The angry guy asks.

"Nobody." Sans says with a small shrug.

"But I hope you don't MAKE me into someone. Because it'll be someone you don't want to get involved with."

"We're with the Genovese family you bozo! You better let us down!"

"Oooh that's scary. Thanks for admitting it. Because now we've got you on audio tape. I bet the police will LOVE you and the rest of your family for snitching like the rats you are." Sans is careful to keep his hat low, so that the guys in the air can't see his face very well. Purple magic grabs a hold of some rope and it expertly ties tightly around the guys. They struggle and yell and kick at the air as they're totally wound like yarn. Sans lowers them gently down into a dumpster and yellow magic has the lid close on top of them. The townspeople snicker not so quietly. Sans grins and sits back down with his coffee and blends right back in pretending like nothing happened…

Papyrus thinks that that was almost cartoonish the way it played out. But he still liked it. The bad guys got what they deserved. They admitted loudly enough for everyone, including a tape recorder somewhere that they did the bombing and which family was the one that ordered it, and they were going to be weird to that pretty lady! This is honestly nicer than what he expected a mafia person to do to people like that… It gives him a little more proof that his family isn't full of baddies.

In the distance Papyrus can hear sirens closing in.

The police show up and spread out, asking what happened, but the people don't say much. They say they saw magic and heard stuff that some guy said, but they didn't see who it was. Even when police extract the tied up baddies from the dumpster they can't tell the cops anything new. After a few minutes of cuffing the five men and putting them in a wagon, they're carted away. Papyrus isn't sure how the police knew to show up or what they were arresting the guys for! How did they know? Did someone call them? But it would have to have been done several minutes prior to the guys even showing up. The police are a little slow… So how?...

Either way, the police and the gangsters are gone for now. Papyrus beams now. It hits him a little more, small waves every minute. His brother is cool after all.

Papyrus watches his parents and Sans all head out one at a time and disappear into the crowd in three different directions. Papyrus thinks he'll follow his dad and see what he's doing first. But he's got to be quick or he'll lose him! So Pap gets up off his stomach and rushes to the door. He sees a brown feather off to the side of the door, but thinks nothing of it. He's on a roof, of course there are bound to be bird feathers all over it. He runs down the stairs and swiftly sneaks out of the apartment building without disturbing anyone and can't find… anyone. Not a single one of his family members! Darn it…

2:00

Papyrus searched the damn place for TWO HOURS! His family sure is slippery…. But luckily, Pap sees Gaster.

Papyrus does his best to look inconspicuous as he follows his dad to a book store. It's inside a brick building with some nice glass doors. Gaster goes inside and Papyrus follows just a minute after, trying not to make it too obvious. He sneaks to the other end of the store and takes a newspaper and pretends to read it while he leans against the wall near the corner. He can't really hear what Gaster and the old male store owner are saying... but he focuses very hard and closes his eyes, trying hard to hear.

"I'm just so tired of being harassed by them all the time…. That Genevese family…. A bunch of kids thinking they're tough guys come in here every day and steal newspapers from me…" The old man says. He looks nearly 90 years old….

"[I KNOW… I'M SORRY THEY'VE DONE THAT TO YOU. BUT…. IT'S BEEN DEALT WITH.]" Gaster says, picking up a stick of gum and a small leather bound book from the side of the counter.

"[BUT LISTEN TO ME, IF SOMETHING LIKE THAT EVER HAPPENS AGAIN, PLEASE MENTION IT TO ME NEXT TIME I COME IN.]"

"O-oh my…. You are too kind Gaster… Thank you so much. I don't know how to repay you."

"[DON'T BE SILLY. YOU STAYING IN BUSINESS IS PAYMENT ENOUGH… JUST THESE FOR ME TODAY, FRANCO.]" Gaster says. Franco, the old man, rings up Gaster's little book and gum and gives him a little bag.

"You'd BETTER come back. You're the only one these days that buys these little books. They need homes too."

"[I ENJOY THEM. EVERY VOLUME WILL BE COMING WITH ME WHEN YOU FINISH WRITING THEM ALL.]" Gaster smirks and then waves, leaving the store and a happy old man behind. Papyrus feels his heart fill with love. His dad is so sweet. Being kind to the elderly is very important to Papyrus and he's so glad to know that his dad is the same way…. Ah darn, he's losing him! Papyrus goes to the old man and puts the paper down. If his dad is going to buy something for no real reason, then he will too!

"I'LL TAKE THIS PAPER SIR! OH AND, I SAW THAT GUY JUST NOW TAKE ONE OF THESE BOOKS. YOU WRITE THEM?" Papyrus asks old man Franco. He sees old eyes light up like the moon and a huge wrinkled smile sweeps onto his face.

"I do! That man is the only one that buys them from me. I only make them for him now really."

"WELL THAT SIMPLY WON'T DO. I'LL BUY ONE AS WELL." Papyrus says with a big smile. Franco looks so happy he may just have a heart attack. He rings Papyrus up. Pap swears he can see the old mans' eyes get glossy, nearly crying he's so overjoyed. Papyrus gives him a big hug before leaving, unable to contain his joy.

Ah, but now he's lost his father…. Darn it.

4:00

Papyrus walks around town for another two hours until he spots his mom from the corner of his eye. She's walked into a dress shop and is speaking to the woman that owns it.

Papyrus goes near the two to the record shop that's right next door. He goes inside quickly and hides in the back, pretending to look at records. Vrinda is the first person he hears speaking. Her voice is low and it's clearly a warning tone.

"And what exactly do you think will happen if you do that, Gwen? Imagine what would happen if say... someone set your shop on fire? Or if someone got into your back account? All your savings would be gone. Likely spent on cars." Is... Vrinda black mailing this middle aged lady?

"I guess you're right. But I want to help you fight back!" The woman says. Oh, so they're taking about someone else doing that stuff...

"I know you do. But really, just you telling me what you know is a big help... Please don't do anything reckless. If anything comes up, you know who to call…. I know you're fired up, but really it's alright. You just keep doing what you do best and get these stunning dresses made." Vrinda says happily. She sounds so motherly, even to someone clearly her senior.

"Yes yes you're right... Ah, thank you for your purchase! I'll go bag it right away." Papyrus watches the lady take a green dress inside and then she's gone from sight. Darn, Papyrus seems to have only caught the tail end of the conversation…. The woman comes right back with a lavender bag filled with tissue paper.

"Come back any time hon." The woman says.

"You're too sweet Gwen. I'll be sure to see you around." Vrinda walks off and Papyrus leans over the record rack smiling. They really are helping... The towns people that is. They're helping his parents, and his parents are helping them…

Papyrus picks a Frank Sinatra vinyl and buys it. He knows his much his mom likes that guy. He just went solo recently, Papyrus thinks.

6:30

As Papyrus walks around town for two and a half tiring hours, hoping to find one of his missing parents or Sans, he hears a nervous voice talking to someone… The nervous guy! Someone he knows, finally. Pap sneaks over and hides behind a metal garbage can that's between two buildings. In this spot he can hear nervous guy and… his brother, talking. He thinks he's really gotta stop finding his brother like this.

"I just... can't get out man. I told them that you spared me and that I was done, but they said the only way I was leaving was in a body bag..." Pap remembers what was said to him... it's seems that's a general rule for mafia members…. How sad.

"Yeah. Well, you're not even inducted yet right? You're just a kid in training…. I get why you want out. You picked the wrong life style, that's for sure. Listen. I can get you out. Without the sack and everything." Sans says, leaning against the fence next to the guy, stuffing his hands in his pockets. The young man's eyes grow huge and he stands up perfectly straight.

"R-really? How? I have to get out man, I can't live like this!... It's too hard. Too scary. I thought it would be fun to join the mafia... have a family that would protect me? Or something like that. But... it didn't work out the way I wanted at all."

"Poor guy. You picked the worst stinkin' family. The worst one around. Your boss and those other guys didn't give a shit about you. But I do, kid. And if I can save you from those creeps then you can consider it done. Just say the word." Sans says, turning to face the kid. The guy barely looks 17, with wild brown hair. And huge childish eyes... Eyes that have seen too much already.

"I want out... I need your help."

"Good choice kiddo. I'm proud of you. It's scary to leave and it takes balls to ever say what you just did... Especially to someone outside of the family. Listen, I'll call you a trusted cabby. He's gonna take you to a place called Flameheart's. Just stay there and get a drink. Relax."

"Th-thank you so much. This means so much to me." The boy says, tears swelling in his eyes. Sans' hand glows for a second... and just the minutes later a cab pulls over in a hidden area. Papyrus wonders how the hell he did that… Is there a tiny rotary phone in his hand or something? Is he controlling a phone somewhere?

"One more thing. I'll have Grillby make you a drink on the house. I recommend the 'Red Lips' cocktail."

"Yeah. Thanks again for this..." The boy says with a relieved smile.

"I'll keep in touch. Now git."

"Yes sir!" The kids says. He rushes to the cab and it drives off.

Sans waits for the car to leave before walking off into the setting sun. Papyrus hadn't realized it until just then that it's already become 7:00 PM…. The hours just flew by now that he thinks about it! How could he not have noticed? He has to get home before anyone finds out that he's been following them all day! So he runs quickly back home and takes all the dark shortcuts Sans has showed him through the years.

He makes it home and closes the door gently behind him. Phew. Papyrus relaxes a little bit, knowing he's safe.

But when he turns around, there is his entire family standing there with smirks. Pap knows he's been caught….

"UHM…. H-HI THERE EVERYONE!" Papyrus says, very unconvincingly.

"Hello honey. How was your day?" Vrinda asks. But Papyrus can see that all knowing stare. He just slumps and tries to ignore the quiet snerks from his dad and brother.

"IT WAS ACTUALLY VERY INFORMATIVE. BUT I CAN SEE WHEN I'M CAUGHT…. HOW DID YOU KNOW I WAS FOLLOWING YOU?" Pap asks. Sans' grin widens a little.

"Well see, you're at terrible stealth. We felt your magic going crazy since we left this morning. You were staring us all down like we were food. You were intent and way too focused on us."

The door is knocked on. Papyrus jumps. He knows who that is… He looks at Gaster who nods at him to open the door. Papyrus turns and opens the door. Their huge owl friend Civetta is standing there. She ducks her head and comes in, shutting the door behind her.

"And also I was there. See Papyrus, while you were following your family, I was following you. Since the moment you left the house I've been watching. And I've been telling them your location for the last seven hours." Civetta doesn't even try to hide a beaky smile when Papyrus shrinks. So Civetta really is in on this whole mafia family thing too. Who ELSE is involved, seriously!?

"THE WHOLE TIME?... WELL WHY DID YOU LET ME FOLLOW YOU IF YOU KNEW WHERE I WAS THE ENTIRE TIME?" Papyrus says, turning to his parents. Civetta moves from the door over to Vrinda who gives her a low five.

"[WE WANTED TO SEE HOW YOU'D DO. AND... WE WANTED YOU TO SEE SOME OF WHAT WE DO AROUND HERE. PARTILY TO PROVE WE WEREN'T THE BAD GUYS YOU SEE ON TV. IT WAS ONLY A FRACTION, BUT IT WAS STILL A BIG PART OF OUR DUTIES TO THIS PLACE.]" Gaster says. Papyrus nods a little...

"Yeah. And also bro, I heard that you bought a couple things while you were sneaking around. Wanna share?"

"OH... YEAH. DAD, THAT OLD MAN, FRANCO. HE LIKES YOU A LOT. HE WAS SO EXCITED WHEN YOU BOUGHT THE LITTLE BOOK FROM HIM. AND SO I WENT UP TO HIM AND HE TOLD ME HE ONLY WRITES THEM FOR YOU. SO... I BOUGHT ONE TOO. THE LOOK ON HIS FACE WAS STUNNING! HE WAS SO OVER-JOYED. OH AND MOTHER, WHEN YOU BOUGHT THAT DRESS. IT WAS NICE TO HEAR THAT WOMAN GWEN BE SO PASSIONATE ABOUT WANTING TO HELPING YOU. I WAS IN THE RECORD STORE- WHICH I'M SURE YOU KNOW... BUT... WHILE I WAS THERE, I BOUGHT YOU A FRANK SINATRA RECORD."

"Thank you sweet heart." Vrinda says happily. Gaster turns to the wall with the secret button on it and gestures for everyone to go inside. Papyrus wonders what that's about... He goes in anyway... and notices Civetta staying out. When Papyrus looks at her and silently asks why she isn't coming along, she just shakes her head... Huh. Okay… Is she guarding the door?

Once inside the small room, everyone takes a seat.

"Alright bro. All that is good and cool. But did you learn anything from my encounter with that kid? He was your age. Notice anything?"

Papyrus slumps in his chair a little bit and nods.

"YES. HE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUN, THOUGHT HE WOULD HAVE A FAMILY TO PROTECT HIM... BUT HE ENDED UP REALIZING THAT HE NEVER SHOULD HAVE JOINED..."

"That's right Pap. Now see, while that guy ended up with a shitty family, you didn't. No matter what you choose, we actually will protect you. But did you see how I had to send him off?"

"NOT... IN A BODY BAG?" Pap asks with a nervous slow shrug.

"Hehe. That too. I sent him to Flameheart's."

"YES. AND YOU RECOMMENDED A DRINK... HE'S UNDER AGED." Papyrus says with a squint. Sans can't stop a chuckle. His innocent little brother is concerned with legal drinking age.

"It's non-alcoholic. It's called 'Red Lips' and it's a truth serum that's put into a Shirley. 'Red Lips' is code little brother. It means 'Shirley with "the Juice"' and it also means that by the time they stop talking, they'll have red lips from spilling allll of their beans. Flameheart came up with it for us. We're the only family that has this sort of thing." Sans says with a hint of pride.

"WAIT... YOU DON'T TRUST HIM? WHY? HE REALLY SEEMED SINCERE ABOUT LEAVING." Papyrus says with raised brows.

"You don't trust anyone in the mafia that's outside of this family, Papyrus. Ever." Vrinda chimes in quickly. "The other families are dangerous and they WILL hurt you. Lie to you. Kill you."

Papyrus stares at his mom. He sees his dad and Sans nod a little bit.

"ALRIGHT... I HAVE ONE MORE QUESTION. WHY DID YOU LET ME SEE WHAT YOU DO? WHY DID YOU TELL ME ALL OF THIS? ESPECIALLY IF YOU DON'T WANT ME TO JOIN." Pap asks. Gaster sits up in his chair a bit more and speaks.

"[WE ALL TALKED ABOUT THIS LAST NIGHT AMONG OURSELVES. IF YOU DON'T JOIN, THEN YOU'LL AT LEAST HAVE SOME INFORMATION... BUT IF YOU DO CHOOSE TO JOIN, THEN WE WANTED TO GIVE YOU A TINY HEAD START IN KNOWING AT LEAST ONE FACET OF THE JOB. THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE. THE PEOPLE. BUT I WANT YOU TO KNOW THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NO PRESSURE EITHER WAY.]" Gaster says with a nod.

Papyrus nods as well and leans back in his seat...

"THAT WAS THE GOOD PART ABOUT THE JOB. BUT WHAT'S THE BAD?"

Vrinda nods and looks at Gaster...

"The bad... Well, for us it rarely happens that we need to go out and... do some damage. But it happens often enough that were used to doing it..."

"WHAT EXACTLY DOES IT ENTAIL?" Papyrus says, leaning to the right to hear his mom better.

"Not you, normally." Sans says under his breath. Papyrus gives him a look...

"Not like that. I mean... We'll be the ones doing the dirtier work. You wouldn't get involved normally because that's my job mostly."

"But he might HAVE to... Papyrus sweetie, my question from yesterday still stands... If you had to kill someone, could you do it? Could you really dust someone? Even if they were scared and they looked at you begging for their life? Even if it was someone you know?... Because that's what it could mean for you, son... We do a lot of good, but some of it comes at a price."

"HOW... HOW MANY PEOPLE DO YOU KILL?" Papyrus says... He still can't believe his family has ever done something so awful... To see his own mom tell him about killing someone you know. Someone who begged for their life. She's seen it...

"Enough." She says. Gaster nods and so does Sans. "Now answer. Could you do it?" Papyrus looks down at his knees and shakes his head.

"NO... I REALLY DON'T THINK I COULD."

Vrinda nods and looks at Gaster. He seems to think...

"[THAT'S GOOD. THAT'S CERTAINLY THE RIGHT ANSWER. AND YET I MUST WARN YOU. SHOULD YOU JOIN, YOU MAY HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT. WE'D AVOID MAKING YOU DO IT AS MUCH A WE COULD, BUT...]" Gaster says and looks at Sans. Everyone is quiet for a while….. Until Papyrus speaks up.

"I UNDERSTAND... BUT..."

Papyrus' family all stare at him. But?

"I STILL THINK THAT I...I WANT...TO HELP. I WANT TO JOIN YOU."

"Is... Is there really no changing your mind?" Vrinda says. But Papyrus shakes his head.

"NO. I KNOW THAT THIS IS WHAT I WANT. I THINK HELPING PEOPLE OUT-WEIGHS THE OTHER RISKS. AND I ESPECIALLY WANT TO HELP ALL OF YOU. SO PLEASE, LET ME DO WHAT I CAN TO HELP YOU PROTECT THE CITY AND THE PEOPLE."

Papyrus sits up straight and looks each family member in the sockets. They all seem surprised… The only one that that very slowly smiles, is Sans. Gaster unfolds his legs and leans forward a little, intertwining his fingers.

"[THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE EVER TO BACK OUT PAPYRUS. AFTER THIS, THAT'S IT. THERE'S NO ESCAPE.]" Gaster says, giving Papyrus that certain look. Pap has seen it many times before. It's a warning look that Gaster would give him when Papyrus was very young and he was testing to see where the lines and buttons were for his parents. But Papyrus knows right now that this is a button he knows he wants to push.

"I DON'T WANT TO ESCAPE. I'M SURE ABOUT THIS." Papyrus says. Gaster leans back and looks at Vrinda who seems nervous for a little bit…. But she takes a breath and then gives Papyrus a rather scary look. Papyrus can sense that Sans knows exactly what's going on.

"We'll train you then. But you will not sleep until we tell you to sleep. You won't eat until we tell you to, and you will train until you drop. But even if you beg I won't show you any mercy." She says. Sans can't suppress a little snerk.

Papyrus gulps… This is what Sans went through when he was just fourteen? He had no idea his mom was so scary! But he straightens up again and nods.

"I LOOK FORWARD TO THE CHALLENGE MOTHER!" Sans' eyes go wide and he flicks his little white dots for eyes between his mom and his brother. He looks at his dad like "we may just lose Papyrus to this training." Gaster just makes a small nod.

Vrinda stands up and adjusts her black overall straps. She turns to Papyrus and holds out a hand.

"Welcome to the family, sweet heart."


	5. Chapter 4

Papyrus hardly slept. He was too eager to learn what he'd be doing. But he feels as if his mom waited for him to get two hours of sleep just so she could wake him up early. She takes the sheets off of him and blows a whistle.

"Wakey wakey sweet heart! You've got a long few years ahead of you!" She says. Papyrus sits up and rubs his sockets.

"YEARS? WHY YEARS?" He asks. Vrinda folds her arms and it's only just then that Papyrus notices that she's wearing an outfit he's never seen before. Black training or running clothes that look both loose and tight. She's got red ballet looking slippers on and dark blue almost black shorts on. Not something ladies would typically wear.

"Because it takes several years to train and get things right. Dad, Sans and I will determine when you're ready to be inducted. It took me and your dad seven years to get inducted. But it only took Sans five. I think you'll do it just as quickly though. But if it takes you longer then that's fine too. Now hurry and get dressed. You'll eat and then we'll leave." Vrinda tosses down an identical set of training clothes at him.

"Put your suit on over this. See you out there." Vrinda leaves and Pap looks at his new get-up... He gets up and pulls out on.

They're special pants that fit right along his bones and almost cover his feet like socks. The shirt is the same way, leaving small holes at the ends for his thumbs. Interesting... He gets the shorts on and ties little yellow strings on the inside. The suit comes on next and then he heads for breakfast.

At the table sit his dad and brother. He can see that Gaster is also wearing the outfit, but only because his dress shirt's sleeves are rolled up to reveal the same tight long sleeved training shirt covering almost all of his holed hands, thumb through a small hole. Papyrus is sure his brother is wearing one too.

"[READY FOR A LONG DAY SON?]" Gaster asks. Papyrus sits down and rubs his sockets some more.

"I GUESS I HAVE TO BE. BUT I'M EXCITED TO SEE WHAT EVERYONE'S GONE THROUGH AND DONE TO MAKE THIS WORK." He nods at his dad and gets a smile back. He wonders if Gaster is actually excited to have him be a part of this.

They eat a hearty breakfast and once they're done cleaning the dishes, Gaster leads Papyrus to the living room where they all stand in a circle.

"WHAT ARE WE DOING?" Papyrus asks confused.

"We're gonna go train bro. Don't freak out." Sans grins and takes his hand and Gaster's hand. Pap holds Vrinda's hand and looks at her confused. She just smiles and looks over to Sans.

"Don't let go Pap, got it?" Sans says. Papyrus nods and holds his hand tighter, still having no idea what to expect! What is going on?

"Here we go." Sans' left eye turns blue and flares with magic. Papyrus rarely gets to see his brother use enough magic to make his eye glow. He can feel the air around him get lighter and he can feel his bones itch from the inside. He looks at his parents with a bit of panic. But they're relaxed and calm. Everything around them seems to be torn away and yanked into the sky in pieces. It goes dark for a second until a new image begins to piece itself together, reversing the process and creating a new space. When it's all over, Pap realizes that they're somewhere else completely. An old, abandoned, empty airplane hangar that must have housed hundreds of military planes. It's as big as a football field!

"HOW…. HOW DID YOU DO THAT?" Papyrus asks, looking at Sans and still gripping his hand tightly. Sans' eye dulls down to his regular white pupil and he looks up at his brother.

"Magic, duh."

"[IT WAS TELEPORTATION. WE CAN ALL DO IT, BUT SANS IS BETTER AT IT. HE CAN TELEPORT MORE PEOPLE AT ONCE FARTHER DISTANCES THAN YOUR MOTHER AND I CAN. YOU'LL LEARN HOW TO DO IT TOO PAPYRUS.]" Gaster says with a nod. Sans and Papyrus let go of each other's and their parents' hands, but Gaster and Vrinda stick together.

"Now, give us a second. We'll be summoning the first stage." Vrinda says. She turns around with Gaster and each of their free hands glow. Papyrus watches them completely amazed. He had no idea that his parents and brother had so much magic. They show their magic to him so rarely he nearly forgets sometimes that they even have it. So to watch his brother teleport four of them to this place who KNOWS how far from their house, and now to see his parents summoning….. Oh god what ARE they summoning?

From the huge empty concrete floor, the points of buildings start to appear, rising up and up and up into the air. Buildings that Papyrus has been in before, or walked by. His parents are summoning a CHUNK of their city! Papyrus' jaw is hanging open and he can faintly hear Sans snerk next to him.

The chunk of city is finally finished appearing and then a small paper sign that says "Phase 1" pops into existence out of nowhere. Gaster and Vrinda take a breath at the same time and let it out together, releasing their hands. Vrinda turns to Papyrus and lifts a finger and prepares to say something until she sees Papyrus' jaw hanging open.

"Close your mouth sweet heart, a fly might get in there." She says with a smirk. Papyrus straightens up and closes his mouth. not that it would matter anyway, he's a skeleton for heaven's sake

"I'M… I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT YOU'RE ALL SO STRONG. THAT YOU ALL HAD SO MUCH MAGIC BUT I NEVER FELT IT MUCH! HOW COULD YOU HAVE HIDDEN IT SO WELL?" Papyrus says.

"[YEARS OF TRAINING, PAPYRUS. AND IT'S WHAT WE'LL TEACH YOU TOO.]" Gaster says. Papyrus recalls that his family mentioned that while he was stalking them, his magic was flaring up and going wild, making himself obvious…

"So anyway sweet heart, I'll explain exactly what's going on here. This hangar is for simulation. We practice and train and do everything in here. Your father and I bought this place right after we got married just so we could have a place to continue our training so we wouldn't get rusty. And then of course Sans wanted in, so this is where we took him to train. He started at 10 years old and finished at 15. So Papyrus. I expect the same of you." Vrinda says. Papyrus can already feel the weight crawling up his back…. It took his then ten year old brother only five years to be inducted… but Papyrus is already years behind. How could he ever hope to catch up to his older brother?...

Instantly after he thinks that, a new thought busts through. The thought that he'll be better. Faster and stronger than his brother. He HAS to. He can't let his brother win.

Sans watches the different expressions cross his brother's face. First a sad disappointed look… but it slowly turns into a determined gaze paired with a confident grin. Sans can't stop a small smile. His brother has no idea what he's in for and he sorta can't wait to watch him struggle. But at the same time he's proud that his brother wants to work hard. Even if it took their family this long to keep him AWAY from this kind of life…. He can't help but be kinda glad that the family is going to be complete.

"OF COURSE, MOTHER. I'LL DO MY VERY BEST! I'LL CATCH UP IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO." Papyrus says, giving his shorter brother a challenging look.

Vrinda and Gaster can feel the sparks of competition in the air between their sons. Gaster thinks it's cute. Vrinda thinks 'Good.'

"Perfect. Now. The first stage of training is all about talking to people. Being convincing. You've got your manners down mostly, but there is a certain type of etiquette that you need for this line of work. You'll learn to sweet talk people, use your magic to subtly get answers out of them. You'll learn to interrogate someone, learn what sit down's are, and you'll learn how to mix drinks."

"ALCOHOL?"

"Yes, alcohol. And non-alcoholic ones too. Remember that 'Red Lips' drink Sans talked about? Stuff like that. You have to be charming…. Well, more charming." She says with a smile.

"IS… IS THIS THE REAL CITY FROM OUTSIDE MOTHER?"

"No, it's a copy. It's not made of the same stuff as it is outside, but really it's close enough. Anyway, come here sweetie." She holds out her hand and summons a watch. Papyrus goes over and holds out his wrist. She puts it on him and sets the hands on the side. It doesn't really look like a watch so much as it does a volume or power counter.

"What I want you to do right now is go through this town like you would naturally. I know it's strange at first, but try not to be TOO natural. I want to see what you do. But this watch here. If you do something that would cause suspicion for a bad guy that's watching you, I'll give you a teeny tiny little buzz. It'll be more like a vibration than anything. This is the one and only time that this will not hurt you. After this, it's going up to three and it will sting. Clear?" She smiles like this isn't terrifying. Every time he messes up after this thing is going to hurt him? He hopes he learns fast…

"I'M CLEAR."

"Good! Now just walk around and do what comes naturally to you, and I'll let you know that I'm a bad guy that's watching you, and you'll feel a buzz. Off you go now." She nods and smiles and steps back over to Gaster and Sans who stand there and wait.

"UHM…. ALRIGHT…" Papyrus looks at the chunk of town that's in front of him…. He gulps… and then enters.

Papyrus has been in several of these buildings for their services or just to say hi to someone inside. It's quiet in this fake town and it's eerie… But after a couple minutes he begins to hear sounds… He looks all around but can't find the source of them. The sounds of cars rushing by and honking at each other, birds chirping and fluttering overhead. People talking and laughing and their footsteps clacking on the sidewalk. How is this happening? He still can't believe that his parents summoned an entire fake city inside of this place…But to make sounds that go with it? How strong ARE his parents exactly?

He eventually manages to relax, knowing that he's perfectly safe. There's a place he wants to check to see if it's here… and finally he sees it!

Flameheart's bar. It's really there… But is anyone inside? Papyrus gets to the curb of a street and looks back and forward. He is going through this naturally and of course in real life he'd look both ways.

Once he gets to Flameheart's he wonders if he should knock or go right in… Naturally he'd go right in. So he does. Inside is VERY strange and not normal. There are images that move and act like people that he sees all the time. They're not really there, but it almost looks like it. It's down in uncanny valley. The only people he knows are real are Flameheart and Grillby themselves at the counter just like the always are. He's amazed. They're really here? But how, his mom said this place wasn't the actual town! And those two were NOT here already when they got there to the hangar!

Buzz.

Darn, he looks suspicious. Just relax….

Papyrus goes over and sits on a bar stool just like he would normally. He wonders if he should ask if they're real, but he can clearly feel their warmth.

"AH, HELLO THERE FLAMEHEART, GRILLBY." Papyrus says. Grillby gives him a small nod, just like he normally would.

"Hey Papyrus. Good to see you."

"YOU TOO. HOW ARE THINGS GOING AROUND HERE?"

"All right. But I hear 'someone is looking for you' around here." Flameheart says. Papyrus turns and looks around. A very long buzz. He spots Vrinda sitting in the corner of the establishment. She isn't looking at him, acting as if he isn't there. But how is he supposed to get her attention. Clearly she's the one who's looking for him.

So he stands up and walks over to her and sits down in front of her. Vrinda gives him a long suffering look and presses a button that buzzes him, and she doesn't let go of it while she stares him in the eye for almost 30 seconds. Papyrus looks pretty confused.

"Papyrus, what are you doing?" She asks, clearly with some irritation. Papyrus doesn't often see her upset, especially at him.

"I'M DOING THIS AS I WOULD NATURALLY, JUST LIKE YOU SAID…. DID I DO IT WRONG?" Pap asks. Vrinda just puts the buzzer down and sighs a little.

"Well, yes. But that's what this beginning exercise is for. We've… got a lot of work to do…"

"I'M SORRY. BUT—"

"No buts. Here's what you did wrong. You made a weird face when you walked in here. If someone is watching you, they're gonna immediately see those expressions. Even if you see someone you never thought you'd see, try not to look too surprised. Just in case. While Flameheart's and Grillby's should be a relatively safe place, anything can happen. I've seen it.

The second thing you did was turn almost completely around to look and see who was 'looking for you.' Do not EVER look for the person Flameheart refers to. And the third thing was you actually CAME OVER HERE and SAT DOWN. Don't ever ever EVER approach someone who is 'looking for you.'" Vrinda says, using air quotes. Papyrus just looks completely confused.

"I know you don't know what that means but you're going to learn. If someone is 'looking for you' they are a bad guy and they want to hurt you or EVERYONE if they can. Don't ever look at the person who is 'looking for you.' Because that's their cue to start something. Now if someone 'wants to talk' then you're probably in for a surprise sit down. In which case you order them a drink. Grillby will go to the person and set down two drinks. THEN you can walk over and sit with them. Drink your beverage first as a sign of good faith that the drink wasn't poisoned or something. Now, if either of them say 'I heard it'll be nice out tomorrow' that means one of us is here. But don't look for us. Just know that we're there and we've got your back." Vrinda nods a couple times and Papyrus does his best to retain all this information… He had no idea there were codes like that being used around him all the time… He wonders how often he was in danger by being at the bar when he was young and Sans was taking care of him.

"I SEE…"

"You'll learn quickly I think. Now. Let's try that again. Leave and then cross the street, then come back. Let's see how much you remembered." Vrinda says and stands up. Papyrus stands up and leaves, looking at Flameheart and Grillby who both have small smirks. They look like they're excited to watch Papyrus fail. He'll show them….

Papyrus repeats the process and once again enters the place. He doesn't look around and heads right to his flame friends.

"Hey Papyrus. Good to see you."

"HELLO THERE YOU TWO. HOW ARE THINGS?" Pap says.

"Interesting. I hear that someone wants to talk with you." Flameheart says. Papyrus can't help but make a small expression. Crap, what did that one mean again?... A surprise sit down…. Oh right!

"I SEE. UHM… GIVE THEM A SCOTCH, ON ME." He's heard Sans say that before, so he hopes it's the right thing to say. There isn't a buzz or anything so he must have done it right. Grillby gets out two short square glasses and fills them with scotch. Then he walks over to a table towards the middle and puts the glasses down. Papyrus is sure not to turn around and look. Grillby comes back and gives Papyrus a small nod. He wonders if that means it's safe… So this time he gets up and puts his hands in his pockets and starts to walk over- BUZZ! OW! That one hurt! Papyrus pulls out his wrist and gives it a once over…. But he quickly tries to compose himself and puts his hand back—BUZZ! OH GOSH that stings! Alright, don't put your hands in your pockets….

Pap makes it to the table with his mom sitting there. She's got her fingers on the rim of the glass and gives Papyrus an expectant look. Papyrus picks up his glass and drinks. EeeeeEEEWWWWW it's awful! Alcohol is gross! Vrinda lifts up her buzzer and holds it down. Papyrus almost drops the glass, but manages to set it down. Vrinda can't stop a small breathy laugh.

"Well you did better this time. And you remembered what to do, which was get me a drink and then drink it first. But don't ever put your hands in your pockets. That's a sign that you've got a gun or a knife that you're going to attack your sit down partner with. Big no no. And second of all, you can't make that face when you sip your drink. The deal will go bad immediately honey. I couldn't resist making you take a sip though, sorry. You'll have to try a few different drinks to get you used to them."

"B-BUT I'M UNDERAGED…" Papyrus says worriedly. Vrinda waves her hand dismissively.

"Yeah, but you'll be eighteen in a few months anyway. No officer is going to bust in the second you take a sip of scotch honey. Especially not in this warehouse where you're completely supervised. It's fine, don't worry about it. And you won't be getting drunk. Unlike your brother, you're not allowed to get drunk. In fact I'm giving you an order as the boss to never get drunk. I gave the same order to Sans, but you didn't know about it so you couldn't have ever stopped him… But now you know. So if you're with him, do NOT let him get drunk." Vrinda says, pointing at Papyrus and sticking him with the task forever. Papyrus chuckles and nods.

"I'LL BE SURE TO STOP HIM FROM NOW ON." Papyrus says with a smile. He watches Vrinda turn her glass a certain way. Into a diamond instead of a square. Papyrus warily copies her…

"See what we just did there? That means the talk or the deal went well. If it DIDN'T go well, you turn your glass to the side, so the face of one side is towards Flameheart and Grillby. They can see the glare from the bar lights on the side and it alerts them that they should be wary for the rest of the night because things went sour."

"WOW… THIS IS PRETTY COMPLEX. I NEVER KNEW THERE WAS SO MUCH INVOLVED." Papyrus says and looks at his glass.

"OH, ALSO WAS SCOTCH THE PROPER CHOICE FOR A SIT DOWN?"

"I'd say so. You can also chose rum and beer. Beer is the wiser choice and I'm SURE you'll have a less severe reaction to it than you did with the scotch. Maybe you'd like rum…. Ah never mind. We have a few more stages to introduce you to, so we'll get rid of this one after you do one more run through. So out you go and we'll reset again. Cross the street just like before." Vrinda says and stands up. She makes sure her glass is in the diamond formation and Papyrus copies her. He looks over at Flameheart and Grillby who give him a thumbs up and a white fire-y smile. Vrinda gives him a painful buzz.

Papyrus goes back and crosses the street twice and comes back. He sits in his seat and repeats the process one last time.

"Hey Papyrus. Good to see you."

"YOU TOO. HOW ARE THINGS GOING AROUND HERE?"

"Good. I hear it's going to be nice out tomorrow." Flameheart says. Papyrus remembers that one. It means Vrinda is here. But he shouldn't look. Just know that he'll be safe. After five minutes, Vrinda comes up to him and puts her hand on his shoulder.

"Nice work sweet heart. You looked very nonchalant. I didn't buzz you for this, but next time buy a drink. Don't ever leave this place without buying something." Vrinda says and walks out of the door, waiting for him to follow. Papyrus stands up and gets out his wallet and puts down the cost of all the drinks he had made.

"THANK YOU GUYS FOR HELPING ME OUT WITH ALL THIS… I'M SURE I'LL PAY YOU BOTH BACK FOR IT SOME DAY."

"Don't be silly, Papyrus. We're very glad to help." Flameheart says. Pap puts the money down in Flameheart's warm hand and he notices a soft look in his white eyes. He walks out and over to his mother and the two leave and head back to Sans and Gaster at the "start" of the city.

"MOTHER, FLAMEHEART MADE A STRANGE FACE WHEN I PAID HIM… IS HE ALRIGHT?"

"Ah yeah… We haven't told you much about them and why we know them… You were just a baby. But I think it's a story they should tell."

"HM…"

The two walk in silence back to the start and Gaster and Sans are both taking off their suits to stand in the strange all black work out outfits. Vrinda undoes her black overalls and small black tie. Papyrus wonders what the hell is going on… But he copies them, taking his suit off until he's just in the training outfit with everyone else.

Without a word, Gaster walks up to Vrinda and takes her hand again just like before. The two face the chunk of city and raise their hands, magic covering them. The city sinks back down into the floor… but only the front of it. The back half of the city is still there. When the front half is gone, from the floor comes up several beams and benches, a few walls that are close together, a couple lamp posts… They're strewn about in no particular pattern.

Gaster and Vrinda put their hands down and take another deep breath, then let go of each other. Sans raises a hand and four yellow lines box the family inside. That square on the ground that's about the size of a boxing ring lifts one foot off the ground, shaking the earth.

"AH! YOU GUYS HAVE TOO MUCH MAGIC THIS IS RIDICULOUS! CITIES AND GROUND RAISING?!" Papyrus says. Sans just shrugs with a smile.

"[PAPYRUS, THIS IS PHASE TWO.]" Gaster says. The paper sign turns itself around to mark the number 2… but in Wingdings. Huh.

"WHAT…. WHAT ON EARTH IS PHASE TWO?" Papyrus asks warily.

"[THIS IS WHERE YOU'LL LEARN SOME MORE PHYSICAL THINGS. WE'LL TEACH YOU HOW TO DEFEND YOURSELF PHYSICALLY. YOU'LL BE FIGHTING WITH YOUR HANDS, ARMS, FEET, AND LEGS. YOU'LL ALSO LEARN HOW TO ESCAPE PHYSICALLY IF YOU'RE RUNNING LOW ON MAGIC. BASICALLY YOU'LL BE USING THAT OBSTICAL COURSE. BUT WE KEPT THE BACK HALF OF THE CITY BECAUSE SOME DAY IT'LL BE THE REAL OBSTICAL COURSE IF YOU'RE RUNNING FROM SOMEONE. AND LATER SANS WILL TEACH YOU HOW TO FIGHT WITH MAGIC. I HAVE A FEELING YOU'LL BE GOOD AT IT, JUST LIKE WE ARE.]" Gaster says. Papyrus can't help but think 'thanks for the added pressure' in the back of his mind.

"[SO. WE'RE SKELETONS. WE DON'T HAVE TO STRETCH. YOU'LL SPAR WITH ME FIRST. AND WE'LL START WITH WRESTLING INSTEAD OF PUNCHING RIGHT AWAY.]"

"W-WAIT A SECOND, I CAN'T JUST SUDDENLY FIGHT YOU DAD! I DON'T WANT TO HURT YOU…." Papyrus says. He can't believe he has to actually spar against his own family! But a pointed grin from everyone around him tells him that HE'LL be the one getting hurt in the end…

"[DON'T BE SILLY. YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO HURT ME FOR ANOTHER YEAR AND A HALF. MAYBE. PERHAPS YOU SHOULD THINK OF THIS LIKE PLAYING.]" Gaster says with a lilt towards the end there. A jab. A JAPE. He's trying to egg Papyrus on.

"[DEFEND YOURSELF SON, I KNOW YOU CAN!]" Gaster rushes Papyrus. And he notices something as he prepares to grab his father. It's familiar. Then he notices something else. Sans. He's got a confident smile on... He and his brother wrestle all the time. Did he... know this would happen? How could he have? No, he's thinking too much.

Gaster SLAMS into Papyrus and grabs his leg out from under him and tries to knock him backwards. Papyrus twists himself so at least they both fall painfully and not just him. Pap tries to regain control but his dad is so strong that he's pinned before he knows it.

"AW HOW DID YOU WIN SO FAST?" Pap whines. Gaster just shrugs as he sits on top of Papyrus who looks like he's hog tied.

"[I'VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR LONGER THAN YOU'VE BEEN ALIVE, THAT'S WHY. BUT IT'S ALRIGHT. MAYBE TRY WRESTLING YOUR MOM INSTEAD.]"

"Hey." Vrinda says and folds her arms.

"[THEN PERHAPS SANS?]" Gaster doesn't remove himself from on top of Papyrus at all.

"Sure." Sans steps up into the raised ring and Gaster finally gets off and steps out. He passes Papyrus and punches him in the arm with a grin. Pap smirks and punches him back. The two don't even wait for a "start" to be said, they just go about it like they normally would. But this time around Sans is being rougher. Papyrus can play that game too.

Neither of them can see it, but Vrinda can't help but smile at her boys. She remembers wrestling and fighting a lot with Gaster when they were kids. Of course it was because they didn't like each other, but even after they got married they wrestled and fought like kids. She feels it's a good way to bond.

Sans and Papyrus start to actually beat each other up, throwing punches and kicking. Gaster thinks this IS more like playing than fighting, but he doesn't want to stop the two until a victor is chosen, even in play time.

It takes fifteen minutes until Papyrus is once again pinned. He pants and just relaxes, giving up.

"Hehe. Perfect. Good fight bro." Sans says, standing up and helping his brother up.

"H-HOW ARE YOU NOT TIRED?" Papyrus asks. Sans shrugs.

"Like dad said, we've been doing this for a long time. Lots of stamina." Sans says. Vrinda takes a few steps forward and raises her hand.

"So Pap, dear, you won't be just wrestling. We'll teach you more than that of course. We're going to show you how to run for your life now." She says it so casually… But Papyrus nods.

"I'll give you a thirty second head start. Starting…. Now." Vrinda says. Papyrus stands there for a second… then realizes he should be running. He bolts off in the direction of the obstacle course. He jumps over a box and heads into the stone maze-like structure and is glad he's so tall. He jumps over a few shorter walls and turns some tight curves, hoping that it throws his family off. He knows he'll be caught, but he wants to know how long he can survive.

It's thirty seconds later now and he doesn't hear or sense anyone… but Papyrus knows there's no escape. Dangit he wishes he could feel their magic! They can feel his, he's sure of that. Hiding wouldn't make a difference right now….

Finally he can hear feet coming towards him. They're light and spritely. A yellow magic covered bone zooms past his head. His mother is attacking!? Pap looks back and sees his mom jump at him. He rolls to the side and summons some of his own bones to defend himself. A boney wheel of unfortune surrounds Vrinda and she sends all of them flying at Papyrus. He sends several of his own bones at hers but they're shattered, weak against his mothers. Some of the sharp pointed bones cut at Papyrus' clothes and shave off tiny chunks of his HP. He knows that if his mother really wanted to hurt him he'd already be dead.

A purple magic covered hand grabs Papyrus around his torso and arms and lifts him into the air and a blue eyed dog skull floats in front of him. It opens its mouth and lowers onto Papyrus. But it stops. Papyrus didn't realize how hard he was breathing until just now. This is his family being NICE to him. This is terrifying and they're being gentle with him!... He's sure glad he's on their side, that's for certain.

"Alrighty, I think that wasn't too bad." Vrinda says. Gaster lets Papyrus down on his feet and lets go, and the blaster disappears. Mom, dad and brother all come up to Papyrus and smile at him.

"[NOT BAD AT ALL I THINK. FOR HIS FIRST TIME?]" Gaster says looking at Vrinda. She nods.

"He did better than I did, that's for sure." She says. "Remember when I fell and completely ate dirt on the first day?" Vrinda says, her and Gaster having a chuckle.

"HOW LONG DID SANS LAST ON HIS FIRST DAY?" Papyrus asks, looking at his brother.

"Me? I survived for an hour. But mostly because I was still pretty small and I was able to hide for a bit longer. It was a glorified game of hide and seek…. And fight. But when they caught me, they caught me good. They tied me up with actual rope." Sans says raising an eyebrow at his mom and dad.

"[WE UH… WE WERE STILL LEARNING HOW TO HANDLE A SQUIRMY LITTLE TEN YEAR OLD. I GRABBED HIM A COUPLE TIMES WITH MY BIG HANDS, BUT HE WAS SO SMALL HE JUST WIGGLED RIGHT OUT OF THE HOLES IN THEM.]" Gaster says, looking down at his own holed hand.

"Anyway, that was stage two. Not too bad honey. To the start again!" Vrinda says a little too excitedly. Pap wonders what it is this time… Sans takes his hand and teleports the four of them to the start again. Papyrus wobbles and covers his eyes with one hand.

"CAN YOU /WARN/ ME NEXT TIME YOU DO THAT, BROTHER? I DON'T HAVE A STOMACH BUT IT MAKES ME FEEL LIK EI HAVE ONE. UGH…" Papyrus says. Sans chuckles.

"Yeah, sorry."

For the third time, Gaster and Vrinda hold hands and get rid of the city and obstacle course. The things that come up next appears to be a shooting range. Three tables full of weapons rise from the cement…. And also Flameheart and Grillby. Papyrus watches and wonders how exactly his parents can do that. Isn't there some sort of space paradox that goes on when they do this?... Whatever.

"Hello again Papyrus." Flameheart says.

"HELLO FLAMEHEART, GRILLBY. AGAIN."

"[PAPYRUS, THESE TWO WILL BE HELPING YOU WITH THE MAJORITY OF THIS STAGE DEPENDING ON WHICH WEAPONS ARE BEING USED. BUT YOUR MOM AND I AND CIVETTA WILL BE HELPING YOU WITH THE OTHER WEAPONS.]" Gaster says.

"SPEAKING OF CIVETTA, WHERE IS SHE FATHER?"

"[SHE'S OUT DOING SOME VERY IMPORTANT RECON FOR US. SHE COULDN'T BE HERE TO HELP, BUT WHEN SHE'S FINISHED SHE'LL BE HERE. IT SHOULDN'T BE TOO LONG NOW. ACTUALLY.]" Gaster says, looking at a watch he had on under the long sleeved outfit which he had to move a lot in order to see.

The family walks up to the flame monsters and he stands next to Grillby.

"Papyrus," Flameheart starts in his very unusual "ten thousand matches all being lit at once" voice. "Grillby and I will mostly be teaching you about blades. This includes knives, and swords, but also includes Sai, these three pointed things here, swords of all kinds, axes, spears, lances, that sort of stuff. Your mother chose axes apparently and your father chose rapiers as their best blade weapons. As for guns…" He pauses, looking over to the gun table to his left where Vrinda and Gaster stand, picking up their favorite gun weapons.

"[I PICKED A SIX GUN. A REVOLVER.]" Gaster says.

"And I picked the tommy gun. I think it's cute." Vrinda says with a shrug.

"WHAT ABOUT SANS. WHAT DID YOU PICK BROTHER?"

Papyrus looks over at Sans who stands between the first and second tables.

"I don't pick favorites with these things. I use what I gotta and that's it. Buuut I guess I prefer knives." Sans' left eye glows and all the knives and swords float up into the air, covered in a thin layer of magic.

"They feel more like controlling bones which is what I'm most comfortable with. Mom's a more physical fighter, dad is a physical and magical fighter, and I'm a more magical fighter. So I wonder what part of the spectrum you'll end up on." The knives spin around in the air and then all stop and point straight down. Everything falls and stabs into the table, every weapon sticking straight up.

"HM… MORE PHYSICAL, MORE MAGICAL OR BOTH… INTERESTING." Papyrus walks over to the guns next to his parents and sees a long one. He touches it and then looks at his parents to make sure it's safe to pick up. Vrinda nods. Papyrus picks the long gun up and looks at it carefully.

"WHAT IS THIS ONE?"

"That's a sniper rifle bud." Sans says. "You stay far away from the main battle and chill out on hills or rooftops waiting for your chance to strike. The enemy has no idea where you are and you get things done in the shadows. It's pretty cool. I was never good at it though. I'm a more up front kinda guy."

Papyrus thinks about what he said to his mom a few days ago. Instead of being the person with a gun to his back, what if HE is the gun to someone's back?

"HM. I SEE. I LIKE THIS ONE SO FAR." Papyrus can see and practically feel his mom relax. As if she were hoping he'd pick that one.

"Good. You'll learn how to use them all anyway, but I think that one suits you." Vrinda says. From Papyrus' peripheral vision, he sees Sans turn the paper sign around again to show a "3" on the front in his font. Is that sign magical, or do his family members just like showing off that they can change something's font?... He wonders if that's a skill he'll learn to do as well.

"So Papyrus. We'll try knives first. Grillby will show you how to throw knives in particular first. It's his specialty." Flameheart says. Papyrus pays close attention now, setting the rifle down and going to the first table full of knives.

Getting to hear Grillby talk for an extended period of time isn't something Pap hears often. Or ever. So he's very excited to listen.

"Knives are very easy to use, Papyrus. Pick out six knives that weigh exactly the same on the handle and the blade." His voice is a nice tenor that could probably go lower if he were being scary or serious.

Papyrus lifts several knives up and jiggles them to see which are as equally weighted as possible. He finds five and then hands them all to Grillby.

"Good. See those six wooden targets?" Grillby turns and points to circular targets that are all different distances.

"I'm going to hit the furthest one and the one just before that. Please watch how I do it. I hold the knife like so in my hand. You can rest it like this, hold the blade here like this, or hold the handle like this." Grillby shows Papyrus every way of holding it and then turns around, not moving closer to the targets at all.

"There are two different ways to throw it. You can spin the knife or not spin it. If you chose not to spin the knife you can make the connection more accurate. But if you're looking for speed, you want to just spin them. Not spinning them takes longer and… to be honest it bothers me." Grillby says. Papyrus can't help but glow with joy that Grillby is talking and even told him something that bothered him. He was confided in!

Grillby takes one knife and then throws it at the furthest target which is 60 yards away and hits it almost in the bullseye. He throws the second one and hits it just next to the center again.

"Did you see? Just throw it. It isn't that hard." The flame man says. Papyrus wonders if he feels proud to show off his skill to someone. Maybe he sees Papyrus' sparkling amazed eyes. Because he gives Pap a small smile and then hands him the knives.

"Now you try. Hit the first one, ten yards away." Grillby says and stands aside. Papyrus takes his spot and looks at the target. It's pretty darn close, how could he possibly mess this up?

He throws his first knife. It hits the target, but doesn't stick. It really just crashes into it, the knife clanking to the ground loudly. But of course he'd get it wrong on the first try. So he doesn't let it get him down! Papyrus tries again and the second one does the same thing… He throws the third one harder and it just crashes into the target and falls to the ground.

"I understand your frustration. But trust me, throwing it harder doesn't make it work. Flick your wrist and remain calm. Hold it gently." Grillby says. Papyrus can't stop a wave of supportive feelings from smashing into him. He smiles at Grillby and nods, looking back at the target… Two knives left. He takes one of them and holds it gently. Stay calm. Papyrus throws it and it actually sticks on the last ring of the target. His eyes go wide and he looks excitedly at Grillby who gives him an encouraging smile and a nod.

"Good job."

Papyrus looks at his last knife and then does the same thing but aims higher. He gets a bullseye. He's sure it's purely luck, but he's very excited and stop a huge very toothy smile.

"I DID IT!" Papyrus half shouts, looking at Grillby, Flameheart and then over at his family. Everyone smiles at him happily and nod.

"Good job sweet heart!~" Vrinda says, clapping her hands together excitedly. She loves seeing her baby so happy.

"Yes, good job Papyrus." Grillby says. "Now why don't you try the guns? We only brought blanks and BB's for practice."

"YES! THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME SO FAR! I HOPE I CAN BE AS GOOD AS YOU SOME DAY SOON!" Papyrus says, then walks over to his family at the second table full of guns. Flameheart is the only one who sees Grillby's center turn blue in a blush.

"Alright honey, see the third table? All ammo. We'll start you with a revolver, just like dad." Vrinda walks to the third table and picks up a box and pulls out six blanks and walks back. She hands Papyrus one of them.

"I think you know how to load this." Vrinda says. Papyrus looks at the revolver and picks it up… He pushes the barrel to the side and shows that all six chambers are empty. He puts the one blank in and then closes it. Normally on tv, the people spin the barrel to look cool, but he wants to know where the bullet is so he just puts it in carefully.

"Very good. Now. A very important rule. Do not. EVER. Point a gun at someone or something that you don't want to kill or destroy. I'm sure you know, but I have to say it. Don't even jokingly point a gun at someone because if it's a toy gun, or if you aren't serious about shooting the other person, then YOU will be shot and hurt. Do you understand?" Vrinda says. Papyrus nods.

"I UNDERSTAND."

Vrinda explains how the safety works, and how to look down the sights and how exactly to hold the gun so that his thumb doesn't get ripped off or cracked from the impact…

"Look right down those sights and try to get as close to the bullseye as possible." Vrinda says, taking several steps back. Papyrus nods and holds the gun with both hands and closes one socket to look down the sights. He sees the center and pulls. Dead center. He turns his head to his family and Gaster seems to be most surprised.

"[WOW… RIGHT ON THE DOT?... Let's give him another blank.]" Gaster whispers to Vrinda. She quickly goes over and gives him another blank to load and steps back again. Papyrus is sure that their reaction is good and wants to do it again. He loads the revolver again and aims again just like last time. He shoots and hits the same exact spot again and then smiles when he turns around to his parents. Gaster can't hold back a growing smile and Vrinda is just glowing.

"Oh my gosh you're an AMAZING shot with that! How did you do that?" Vrinda says.

"I ONLY DID WHAT YOU TOLD ME TO, MOTHER. CAN I TRY THIS ONE NOW?" Papyrus says, picking up the rifle excitedly like a kid in a toy store.

"I'd LOVE for you to try it." Vrinda says. Sans is the first to move though, heading to the blanks for the rifle and he hands him two bullets.

"Nice work bro. You seem to be naturally good with guns. Which is good." Sans says. Papyrus smiles widely and watches how Sans loads the rifle which is just a bit taller than his brother, who is below his shoulder at 5 feet tall. Papyrus takes the gun carefully and tries to adjust it, but it's quite heavy…

"Here bro, there's a little built in stand. You'll normally be on your stomach for this…" Sans says, rubbing his chin a little.

"THEN TO THE FLOOR I'LL GO!" Papyrus says excitedly. He sets the gun down and then gets down on the floor and lays on his stomach. Skeletons obviously don't have any skin or human fat or any other sort of flesh around them, so normally Papyrus would be resting on his hips and ribs. But luckily, skeletons can magically form a sort of ecto flesh. It happens automatically as if it were invisible. This is the reason clothes look normal on them instead of saggy and too big. It also helps for if they fall, it can be used as a cushion.

So Papyrus lays on his stomach and puts his socket to the scope. It's blurry so he fixes it. He takes a few seconds to get things to look right… and then pulls the trigger. He didn't know how much of a recoil this thing would have, and it hurts his shoulder some. But the bullet goes exactly in the center just like before.

"[MY GOODNESS… HE'S A NATURAL AT GUNS… I ACTUALLY CAN'T BELIEVE IT. I WONDER IF IT'S THE BLANKS… ARE WE BEING PRANKED OR SOMETHING?]" Gaster says, mostly in a whisper to Vrinda. But she just shakes her head in disbelief…

"No… I think Papyrus is just made for guns. Which is perfect. The further from the front lines the better honestly." Vrinda says. Sans stares sorta straight faced at nothing in particular and staying quiet.

"Ah, good job sweetie! You really are a natural! But let's see, what time is it…" Vrinda takes Gaster's hand and lifts his sleeve to look at his actual watch on his wrist.

"It's six o clock in the morning. Civetta should be here pretty soon…." Vrinda says with a bit of worry. But she's instantly relaxed when a claw is set on her shoulder. A six foot ball of feathers. Civetta adjusts her red circular glasses with her free claw and she smiles a beaky smile.

"I made it!~ I wouldn't miss Papyrus' training, no no no, that'd be impossible." Civetta says. She looks over at Grillby and Flameheart and waves at them. They wave back.

"Enough of this! You're a good shot, but are you good at STEALTH?!" Civetta says pointing a claw in the air. Papyrus stands up and puts the gun on the table quickly. He straightens up and salutes.

"NO MA'AMI DON'T THINK I AM! PROBABLY!"

"Good answer!" The owl says with a laugh.

"Gaster, Vrinda, take a break! I'll handle this." Civetta takes Papyrus' hand and leads him to the little paper sign. She turns it around and there's a picture of a birds foot with four toes. Phase 4. Civetta raises a feathered wing and the shooting range, targets and weapons all sink into the ground quickly. And then up comes a few different things. In the back of the hangar is a small little house. One that's typical in their city, one made of brick and one of wood. A different chunk of their fake city rises up in the middle of the hangar and then in front of them rises a table with different little gadgets on it.

"Phase four, my dear, is all about how to be a stealth master. A spy! I'll teach you to hide and how to keep your magic from being sensed by others, how to tap into phones and houses, how to carefully put a magic tracker on their person! No one will spot you if you learn everything I have to teach you." Civetta says. Papyrus recalls her having to be out on recon? She's awfully excited and bubbly and… hyper after just coming back from a mission. Huh.

"YES MA'AM, I'LL DO MY ABSOLUTE BEST!"

"You had better! Now, in we go!" She begins to tell him about every little gadget. The tracker, the "bug", special glasses with mirrors inside, a suitcase that's got a gun inside of it and it shoots wherever he's facing, wires, night-vision headsets, watches that blow tranq darts at people! There's so much stuff…. Civetta talks a million miles a second and Papyrus is lucky to catch up. It takes twenty minutes of explanation before Civetta walks into the city with Papyrus to show him how exactly he should use these things.

Flameheart and Grillby comes up to the skeleton family.

"It's nearly six thirty… We've got to get back now." Flameheart says.

"[THAT'S PERFECTLY ALRIGHT. THANK YOU BOTH SO MUCH FOR HELPING US OUT AGAIN. THAT'S TWO FOR TWO.]" Gaster says, thumbing at Sans.

"Haha. It's no trouble, we're glad to help. Buuut I get to see my daughter in law Selena today and she's an early riser." Flameheart says. Sans finally smiles at this.

"She's a nice girl. Good catch Grillby. Another flame monster in THIS town? Congrats bud." The light blue flame at Grillby's core returns as a blush and he rubs the back of his neck.

"Thanks." Is all Grillby can say.

"The wedding is in a couple months… I thought I'd invite you all in person." Vrinda gasps and smiles widely.

"Aw Grillby sweetie that's so… SWEET of you! But you really don't have to. I wouldn't want our presence there to ruin anything." Vrinda says.

"It's private and invitation only. As long as nobody talks then everything will be fine." Grillby says with a small nod.

"Awww. Gosh. We'll tell you what we decide. But I'm so happy you'd invite us to something so special. Thank you so much!~" Vrinda pinches Grillby's fire-y cheek a little and giggles when he blushes. Gaster and Sans can't stop a choked laugh.

"[HE'S A GROWN MAN VRINDA, DON'T PINCH HIS CHEEK.]" Gaster says, trying to keep a straight face.

"Hmmm…. No." Is all Vrinda has to say.

"Anyway boys, we'll see you later. Thanks again for helping us out. We'll be needing you a whole lot more… Or at least you Flameheart. Your son will be busy with his wifey.~"

Gaster leans in a little and pretends to whisper, but makes dead eye contact with Vrinda.

"[CAREFUL SON, MARRIED LIFE IS DANGEROUS.]"

"Wingdings Gaster!" Vrinda says with a laugh and punches Gaster's shoulder.

"[SEE? ABUSE.]" The group gives a small laugh.

Everyone waves to each other and Sans teleports the two back to the bar which is the safest place to put them, and then he stuffs his hands in his pockets. Vrinda comes up to him and rubs his skull a little.

"Are you alright sweet heart? You seem a little bit off today."

"Huh? Me? Nah, I'm fine. I guess it's just weird being back here. I already did all the training and now I'm back and I sorta have to do it all over again. It's weird to see Papyrus here… And… I guess I still feel bad…"

"Feel bad?" Vrinda says, tilting her head a little and bending over to see Sans' face a bit better.

"I didn't mean for him to catch me… I didn't think he'd go out so late at night to do some mindless shopping and then end up seeing me roughin' that kid up. He was already suspecting you guys a few days before that. And honestly, I think deep down somewhere inside of him, he suspected us years ago. But I feel bad that I'm the one that spilled the beans… But he caught me and I couldn't hide it. So I had to tell him the truth." Sans says, looking off to the side.

"Well honey… We tried for a long time to keep him away… But honestly, I think it was a little foolish of me and your father to keep such a secret from your brother. And to put the weight of that secret on your young shoulders as well. I'm a little surprised you never told him when you were ten, or especially a teenager…. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I knew he'd find out eventually… And I shouldn't have let the secret go on long enough to where the situation of you being caught would happen. So don't feel too bad about it. Your brother seems to be a natural so far, just like you were. Are! Let's do our best to get your brother caught up on all the years of secrets. We can let it all out now. Isn't it nice?" Vrinda says with a smile. Sans knows she doesn't really feel that way though… He knows that she doesn't think it's nice. She wanted at least ONE of her sons to not be tainted by this world. But Sans had to ruin it all and take his baby brother down with him like a jerk…

"Yeah." Sans says quietly.

Gaster and Vrinda talk in slightly hushed tones about the mission Civetta was on and what they hope she found out. Sans just sits quietly on a summoned chair and stays silent. About half an hour later, Papyrus and Civetta return form the false city and of course, Civetta is talking quite loudly and excitedly as always. Papyrus looks like his skull might explode from all the information. Sans smirks a little.

"Hey bro, learn anything in there?" Sans asks. Papyrus walks over to him and Sans summons a second chair.

"I SURE DID." Papyrus plops down on it.

"I KNEW THERE WAS STUFF LIKE THAT IN THE WORLD, BUT I HAD NO IDEA HOW MUCH…. SPY WORK WENT INTO IT ALL. I HONESTLY DON'T THINK I WAS FAR OFF WHEN I THOUGHT YOU AND MOM AND DAD WORKED FOR THE FBI. IT'S A LOT TO TAKE IN… BUT I THINK I'LL GET IT… WHAT WAS IT LIKE FOR YOU WHEN YOU HAD TO DO ALL OF THIS, BROTHER?" Papyrus asks and turns to face his brother. Sans folds his hands on top of his stomach and hums.

"I guess it was pretty much the same for me. I was ten though, how the hell was I supposed to remember all that stuff? But to be totally honest, phase 4 was the easiest of all. Location and stealth were super easy for me. I was, and am, pretty small so I was able to hide and sneak around like it was a game. I actually had a lot of fun. But trust me Pap, things are gonna get hard. Mom is NOT a very patient or forgiving teacher. Remember how she said she'd make you train until you drop, and even THEN she'd show no mercy? She completely means it. And for a little bit it might seem less like our mom and more like a drill sergeant. Dad too. But I guess it's weirder to see our sweet apron wearing, cookie making kisses giving mom be a complete bitch."

Papyrus gasps a little too loudly and Sans punches him in the thigh.

"Shut up, man." Sans whispers loudly.

"But listen. They're not going to be nice to you during all of this. And neither am I. Probably. I'm a teacher in this now too, and if tough love is what I've gotta give you to help you learn, then I'll do it. It ain't personal. So just know that alright?"

Papyrus nods a little… He wonders what exactly Sans went through to call their beautiful sweet mother the B word! He hopes he never feels that way towards his mom…

But he knows that this will be hard. He signed up for it. Pap has already heard the horror story that is his mother during training, and he's heard the rumor of him being unable to hold himself up off the ground because of exhaustion. He knew it'd happen. But Papyrus was determined to, no matter what, help his family out. And if he has to do all this training for years, just like his brother then by god he will. He just hopes he doesn't have a third teacher who's just as much of a terror… His big brother… Really, Sans has always been sort of a butt, but that's because he's the OLDER brother and Papyrus imagines it's hard to keep himself from NOT trying to jokingly take advantage of that fact. Sans has always showed him more love than butt hole-ness though, so he's not sure how he'll feel about Sans possibly being an actual jerk to him… Oh well… He's heard on TV that stuff like this builds character.

But will he even be the same person after all this?... Papyrus wonders that for only a second until his mom and dad call things to order, telling Pap that this is what they'll be doing for the rest of the day until 9 o clock that night…

Vrinda was right. He's got a loooong handful of years ahead of him


	6. Chapter 5

((NOTE: Some characters might be OOC but IDGASF))

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(April 1949)

It's been three months since Papyrus began his training. And Sans was right. Mom and Dad are pretty dang scary. Mom especially. Papyrus thinks "Drill Sergeant" is probably being too nice a term to use for her…

Papyrus is worked to the bone, just as was foretold. He collapses for several days in a row. Falling asleep in the fake town at the barstools at Flameheart's, being unable to keep himself standing or balanced during the running and escaping and jumping of phase two, dropping knives and being unable to focus on things far away when he's throwing knives and even shooting. He's so tired…

During all of this training, Pap can't help but notice Sans enjoying his suffering more and more each week. Probably because he's glad to see his brother finally understand what he had to go through to make him strong. It propels Papyrus further, to show his brother that he CAN catch up and that he too can be strong in every way!

It's the same thing every day. Wake up early at 4:30 AM and train until noon when he has a lunch break. Magic food is special in that it doesn't spoil and really doesn't have any nutritional value. At least not for skeletons. It only ups his HP and allows him to use a bit more magic. So he can still eat all the foods he likes. Pizza, burgers, chocolates and teas. He has found though that he likes coffee more than he originally thought. But he prefers it black with 8 cubes of sugar. It makes him feel ready. After lunch which he has to eat rather quickly, he gets back to training and doesn't leave for home until 9:00PM with the rest of his family.

Pap notices that his mom cooks a little less, tired from using so much magic during the day. Gaster insists on making food for her, holding her hand, but she almost always refuses. Gaster uses a lot of magic too, but he seems to be alright with using as much of it as he does. This typically leaves Sans to make dinner. And Papyrus notes that his brother is a really good cook! He used to make every meal with their mom so it's no surprise that he'd be good.

Another thing Papyrus spots is that his parents give him a lot of praise. "[GOOD JOB SON!]" "You're so talented!" "That's my boy!" "[YOU'RE A NATURAL!]" But it weirds him out a little. His parents have always praised him, but he wasn't prepared to have them do it so much during what is supposed to be the hellish apocalyptic landscape that Sans described… But maybe Sans was just trying to scare him by making it sound way worse than it was.

()

(May 1949)

Papyrus only gets one day off. He doesn't have to get up early and he doesn't have to train until he falls asleep. Finally he can wake up late in the day.

The reason for this glorious day is because the Gaster family's long-time friend Grillby is getting married! Papyrus has never met this woman before, but he's heard a bit about her from Flameheart. Apparently she's really pretty and according to Sans, she's a good catch for Grillby. Finding another flame monster in these parts so close to the ocean is rare. Pap notices the blue blush that sometimes appears in the center of Grillby's face when she's talked about. He sees far more smiles on his flame friend's face than he ever has before. So he must really really like her to marry her! Papyrus is extremely excited to get to see her and he wears a suit that was picked out for him by his parents. They do secret shopping so not to cause a lot of attention or reveal the fact that he's even going to a wedding. As he understands, being associated with a mafia family these days can get you killed, so his family is trying to be very careful. Not for Grillby's sake really, but for his wife.

"We're going to stay further in the back. Just in case we need to bolt out of there. I don't want to ruin Grillby's and Selena's big day." Vrinda says worriedly, trying to get her beautiful white and blue laced dress to look straight. She appears to be very self-conscious about showing so many of her bones. Trying to keep the dress up above her collarbone is almost impossible and it frustrates her. But of course Gaster comes up and insists she looks stunning and hopes that some day she can wear such a pretty dress for him. He whispers some other things to her that make her blush but Papyrus ignores the super mushy stuff and goes off to Sans' room to chill until they leave.

"THEY'RE BEING GROSS AGAIN SANS." Papyrus complains. Sans shrugs a little and chuckles.

"That's not surprising. Don't worry pap, some day you'll find someone to be gross with too." Sans straightens a blue tie up and grumbles at the whiteness of his suit…. He's never liked white… it's too obvious when something gets on it. Dirt, grass, blood...

"HAVE YOU FOUND SOMEONE TO BE GROSS WITH SANS?" Papyrus asks. Sans turns to his brother who's flopped backwards on his bed and gives him a weird look.

"Nah. I don't have time. I honestly don't know how Grillby or mom and dad make time. Then again I'm the one doing most of the work anyway." Sans says and trails off on that last sentence. Papyrus stares at his brother's back and wonders what exactly it is that he does. He still doesn't know.

"CAN YOU HELP TIE MY TIE? I THINK I DID IT WRONG." Papyrus says. Sans turns around again with a brow raised and a suffering look on his face.

"Papyrus you've been training for this long and you think you did your tie wrong? Stage one man, lookin' good, talkin' good." Sans says. But he sees his baby brother's playful pleading look and sighs.

"Fine, sit up." Papyrus sits up happily like a puppy and presents his bright orange tie to his brother. Sans walks up to him and undoes it.

"You're not a baby Pap, you KNOW how to tie a tie." Sans says. But he notices that the tie IS perfect. He gives Papyrus a look and his baby brother's eyes say "pretty please big brother?" and Sans just can't say no to that face. He manages a small smile and "fixes" Papyrus' tie.

"There ya go. Ready to meet Selena? I've only caught a glimpse of her once, and she is pretty good looking."

"SANS WE'RE NOT GOING TO THE WEDDING TO FLIRT WITH GRILLBY'S FIANCEE." Papyrus says jokingly. He stands up and Sans just rolls his eyes. The two leave Sans' room to see their parents snogging. Well, snogging as much as skeletons can.

"Ahem." Sans says. The parents part startled and then laugh nervously.

"Are we leavin' or what?" Sans says. Vrinda nods and walks over with Gaster. The three form a circle and hold hands. Sans takes a small breath and then the world begins to tear itself apart. Papyrus can't help but think that Sans ended up not getting a day off at all, still using a lot of magic to teleport the four of them probably a huge distance. And he'll have to do it again later when they leave…

The world pieces itself together again and the four of them land just inside the door of a rather large building. Not quite a church, but it sure looks like one. The whole place is covered in gold and white. Roses and streamers are on controlled fire and above them are three chandeliers that are also on fire. Blue in the center and orange on the other two. There are actually several people there. Humans and monsters alike.

Papyrus can feel his mom get nervous. Lots of people means lots of chances for exposure. There are as few skeletons around here as there are flame monsters, and the family don't want to cause attention to themselves. People have taken their seats and the Gaster family quickly take their seats in the back.

Their timing seems to be impeccable because Grillby suddenly walks out and stands at the front along with some sort of monster priest stand in person. Flameheart's burning head is seen in the front seat and he turns back to look at who's to come. But he sees the Gaster family instead and gives them a subtle smile. The four of them smile back.

The door opens up and the music begins. Walking down the isle with another flame monster is Selena. A blue flame woman in a stunning blue and white flaming dress. The monster next to her is her father and he's a dark maroon color. He lets her go once he gets to the front and stands behind her when she gets to the front.

The vows are very sweet and Papyrus can't stop some tears from forming. And the kiss is beautiful. Their lips turn green on contact and their cores flush a different color, Grillby a light blue and Selena a bright white. Everyone cheers and yells and claps, throwing flowers and petals in the air.

Once the main event is over, people leave their seats and start heading to the food.

"Alright everyone, time to go home." Vrinda says, standing up at the same time everyone else does.

"AW WHAT? WE CAN'T STAY?" Papyrus says with a whine.

"No sweetie, the longer we're here the bigger our odds of exposure are." Gaster takes her hand and she looks at him.

"[JUST RELAX SWEET HEART. GRILLBY SAID THIS WAS A PRIVATE PARTY. ONLY PEOPLE THAT GRILLBY TRUSTS ARE HERE.]"

"He certainly trusts a lot of people…" Vrinda says warily. Sans stands up and spots Grillby looking over at them and waving. Sans waves back, completely ignoring Vrinda's worry.

Grillby takes Selena's azure blue hand and walks over with her.

"Selena," Grillby begins when he gets up to the Gaster family. "This is the family that saved my life and my father's life. The Gaster family."

"It's such a pleasure to meet you." A nice deep womanly voice comes. It sounds more like wind than anything.

"I'm Selena." The blue flame woman does a little curtsies.

"I grew up with these two here." Grillby continues. Sans takes a step forward and holds his hand out.

"Hey there, nice to meet you. I'm Sans." The two shake hands. Papyrus steps up and takes her hand as well and does a dramatic bow.

"AND I AM PAPYRUS, AT YOUR SERVICE! IT IS VERY NICE TO FINALLY MEET YOU!" He says. Papyrus feels that Selena is much hotter than Grillby or Flameheart. Noticeably hotter.

"And I'm Vrinda, their mother."

"[WINGDINGS GASTER.]" The parents say.

"It's very nice to meet all of you! Thank you for saving my future husband and for being kind to him. It really does mean a lot to me." Her features are feminine and sharp and she has a stunning white glowing smile.

"And uhm… You two, Selena knows what I do. I… I couldn't hide something like that from her." Grillby says. Gaster is quick to hold up a holed hand.

"[NOT AT ALL. SHE HAS A RIGHT TO KNOW, IT WAS ONLY RIGHT FOR YOU TO TELL HER.]" Gaster says with a smile. Papyrus senses that there's something else Gaster knows and isn't saying…. He has to ask him about it later.

The Gaster family decide to stay for a while and mingle, actually finding very helpful connections. Flameheart hugs Gaster extremely tightly, happy for his son and happy that things went well. Gaster just goes with it and gives him many pats on the back. Papyrus wonders where Grillby got his quiet reserved nature from. His father certainly isn't much like that. But maybe it's BECAUSE he's a little loud and out there that Grillby decided to go the complete opposite direction. He remembers Grillby even being mute for a very long time. And now here he is with a WIFE which means he did a whole lot of talking with her. It makes Papyrus very happy to know that Grillby has found more happiness in his life. He hopes his brother Sans can find someone to love like that someday.

The Gaster family get home and everyone is tired from a night of fun. But Papyrus goes up to his dad.

"FATHER, I HAVE A QUESTION."

"[I'M ALL EARS SON.]" Gaster says. Papyrus has heard the ear joke a million times. Skeletons don't have ears. Ha. Ha.

"I'VE SEEN ON TV A LOT THAT MARRIAGES ARE VERY… STRICT. THE PERSON MARRYING INTO THE FAMILY IS INVESTIGATED A TON UNTIL IT'S DETERMINED THAT THEY'RE SAFE TO BE ALLOWED INTO THE FAMILY… BUT IT SEEMS LIKE SELENA WAS ALLOWED IN EASILY, EVEN KNOWING THAT GRILLBY IS INVOLVED WITH US. WILL SHE BE OKAY?" Papyrus says. Gaster chuckles a little and gives his son's shoulder a few pats.

"[ONE OF THE ONLY THINGS THOSE SHOWS GET RIGHT. SELENA WAS INVESTIGATED. SANS WORKED VERY HARD TO LEARN EVERYTHING HE COULD ABOUT HER. AND HE FOUND THAT HER AND HER FAMILY ARE ALSO A PART OF A MAFIA FAMILY. THEY'RE ASSOCIATES TO THE BONANNO FAMILY. SO THEY'RE NOT CONSIDERED 'IN' BUT THEY'RE PROBABLY THE MOST USEFUL PEOPLE IN A STANDARD MAFIA FAMILY'S TREE. AND BY THE FATES, GRILLBY AND SELENA MET AND FELL IN LOVE. IT WAS PERFECT FOR US AND THE BONANNO FAMILY TOO. A BETTER CONNECTION FOR EVERYONE. THE ENTIRE THING WORKED OUT IN EVERYONE'S FAVOR. IT'S ACTUALLY VERY IMPRESSIVE.]"

"SANS INVESTIGATED HER… HOW DID HE DO SUCH A THING? DOES GRILLBY KNOW HE DID IT? ISN'T THAT SOME SORT OF PRIVACY INVASION?"

"[SON, IN THIS LIFE, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS PRIVACY. IF WE WANT TO KNOW ABOUT YOU, WE /WILL/ GET IT DONE. YOU KNOW THAT. YOU'VE BEEN TRAINING TO GET INFORMATION ONE WAY OR ANOTHER FOR ALMOST HALF A YEAR NOW. DON'T WORRY, YOU'LL CATCH UP QUICKLY... GRILLBY KNEW. IN FACT HE /WANTED/ SANS TO LOOK INTO HER TO MAKE SURE HE DIDN'T GET TOO DEEP AND FIND OUT SHE'S AN ENEMY... ANYWAY SON, GET SOME REST. TOMORROW'S ANOTHER LONG DAY FOR US ALL.]" Gaster pats Papyrus' shoulder again and heads off to bed. Papyrus does the same. He walks past Sans' room to get back to his own and he hears him snoring. He must be tired. He didn't use as much magic as normal, but he still used a decent amount. He must be tired from doing it so often… Papyrus hopes Sans gets a good night's sleep.

October (1949)

Three more months have passed. Papyrus notices that Grillby isn't at Papyrus' training as much as he used to be. But it's understandable. He's got a wife now and he has to take care of her! Although, two times when Grillby did come to training, Selena came with him. Papyrus wonders if his mom will freak out and call her a spy or something, but she appears composed and inviting. He wonders how much of that is real and how much of it is an act… But things go smoothly when she shows up. She cheers Papyrus on and even gives him some tips for stage one. Sometimes Papyrus spots Grillby eyeing Selena happily when she gives Pap tips.

December (1949)

While he continues to excel at everything, Papyrus seems to have slowed down a bit in the gun department… He's nearly done with his training on all guns, but he can't pull the trigger on a target that looks like a monster or a human. He has yet to do it even a single time. When Pap expects to be scolded for being unable to do something so simple as shoot some cardboard, instead his parents tell him it's okay and that it's alright to feel hesitant to take a life.

Sans notices how often their parents spoil and baby Papyrus, praising him when it's not necessary, making sure he's okay if he gets hurt, giving him answers when he should be answering them himself…. It really really REALLY irritates Sans… He was NEVER treated like this… Things were very very different for him. But he just continues to shake his head and keep quiet. He chocks it up to Papyrus still being new to all of this. Maybe he NEEDS babying. Maybe it'll encourage him or something….

It's cold and snowing like crazy these days. There are some days where Vrinda and Gaster go for a day off and go around town. Sans and Civetta are left to teach Papyrus. And Sans doesn't show any mercy on Papyrus. At first Pap wonders if his brother is mad at him. But then he starts to enjoy the challenge. Sans doesn't go easy on him like their parents do and he loves the feeling of using his magic to it's fullest.

But he soon realizes that exhausting all of his magic isn't the best way to fight. Especially against someone who has almost an entire life time of better stronger magic on Pap. Sans wins the magical fights every single time. But no matter what, Papyrus would really have this no other way. Competition fuels him and catching up to his more experienced older brother puts a fire under him.

Civetta and Flameheart sometimes have to stop the two from fighting to remind them of lunch because the two get so into their sparring matches. But it's always a good lunch after that because the two talk about their fighting styles and what each one of them needs to do to improve.

When the parents come back they continue their irritating babying ways.

()

February (1950)

It's been a full year now.

Papyrus is doing better now at everything. Now when he races against his family, jumping around the obstacle course and the fake city, Papyrus is able to catch up to Vrinda who's the fastest of everyone. Vrinda still leaves him in the dust every time, but Papyrus gets second place almost all the time now. Sans is dead last of course. He congratulates and teases his brother that the only reason he loses is because of their height difference. Papyrus accepts that, sure that it's true even though Sans is teasing. Vrinda gets very excited when Papyrus makes second and always tells him how close he was to matching her for first. But he's never that close. It bothers Sans that she's glorifying everything Papyrus does.

A sick feeling swirls in Sans' bones now… It's the start of the feeling and Sans knows exactly what it is. He shakes his head to dislodge the feeling from spreading further. It's an ugly smoky feeling… NO! Stop thinking this way… Sans feels bad for having this feeling. He's a grown man, he shouldn't feel like this about his teenage brother… So Sans pushes it away, pushes it deep inside and tries to ignore it.

March (1950)

Grillby is very quiet for the first hour of a training day. It's clear to everyone. But even Flameheart doesn't seem to know what's going on. Grillby notices everyone staring at him at some point and seems to resolve something within himself.

"Uhm…" Grillby finally says. Everyone pays close attention.

"I uh…." To hear and see Grillby not being his usual forward self is intriguing.

"I have an announcement to make… Uhm… I… I'm…" A strange white smile starts to pull at his face and he looks up from the ground a bit. He can't contain it.

"I'm a father now."

Everyone is dead quiet. But smiles begin to pull at everyone now. Huge smiles, bigger and bigger. Everyone rushes him and hugs him and claps him on the shoulder and back. Flameheart especially. He hugs his son so tightly and if he were able to cry Papyrus is sure he would.

"Why on earth are you HERE if you've got a baby at home!?" Vrinda half shouts.

"You should be home with Selena and the baby!" She's very happy of course, but as a mother herself, she finds it strange that Grillby isn't there.

"WELL DON'T GO JUST YET, TELL US MORE ABOUT THE BABY!" Papyrus says giddily. Flameheart's blue blush is becoming very obvious now. He adjusts his glasses a few times. It seems to be a nervous tick of his. Another thing Papyrus gets to learn about his friend.

"It's a girl. A beautiful little girl. She's green. Uhm… we named her Fuku." Grillby says.

"When the hell—Grillby this is a bombshell! I mean—" Sans begins. "I guess it's none of our business, but I mean, we wanna know important stuff like this!"

"Y-yes… I'm sorry. We've been planning it for a little while now and… Well she's here now. Selena told me to come tell you all today… but I couldn't find the right time or explanation…"

"[THIS IS AMAZING GRILLBY, WE'RE ALL SO EXCITED FOR YOU!]" Gaster says, looking very happy. Papyrus wonders if Gaster likes babies.

"DO WE GET TO SEE HER, GRILLBY?" Papyrus asks excitedly. Grillby looks at Pap and nods.

"Of course. You can come see us any time at our home. We moved a bit further away from the ocean and further inland. Selena got worried about a flood. I wasn't about to tell her no. I want what's best for her and my daughter…. Ha…." Grillby can't stop smiling now. It's an amazing sight. Grillby is so excited to actually be a DADDY and have a beautiful baby girl.

The rest of the day goes amazingly. Everyone's invigorated and they work harder than they have in a while. Vrinda orders Grillby and Flameheart to go home immediately to the baby. While Grillby is a daddy, Flameheart is a GRANDPA! It's a very huge moment for them, so she tells them to scram and get to their new addition quickly. They're more than happy to oblige. Sans teleports them away.

A few days later, there's a big celebration. Everyone from the wedding attends the celebration and everyone buys gifts including the Gaster family.

Fuku is a very cute green flame baby and she makes quite a lot of noise. Cooing and babbling and flailing her small thin arms around in the air grabbing at everything she sees. Selena of course looks like she's glowing a hundred lumens brighter than normal.

Vrinda bought the baby a few things, little dresses and little shoes that adjust in size with age and many cute blankets. Selena loves it all. Gaster bought them a "what to expect" book and Selena laughs and accepts it.

"I'M NOT SURE WHAT BABIES LIKE, BUT I BOUGHT HER A BOOK! AND SOME CRAYONS FOR HER TO USE WHEN SHE'S OLDER! I USED TO LOVE THIS BOOK WHEN I WAS YOUNGER. THE CLASSIC TALE OF FLUFFY BUNNY!" Papyrus says and hands them his gifts.

"Aw, that's so sweet of you Papyrus! I know she'll love them to pieces! Hopefully not literally." Selena laughs. Of course she means that the baby might either burn everything by mistake or that she'll simply rip it apart because she doesn't know better.

Sans takes a step forward next and with his magic holds up a little mobile made steal and copper spun wires. Dangling from it are pieces of glass and crystals that when they get close to the fire family sparkle and give off beautiful rainbows on near by surfaces. Fuku reaches for it and babbles loudly at it.

"Oh my, that's beautiful Sans! She'll absolutely love this. I can see her now, chasing the little rainbows on the walls." Selena giggles and looks at Grillby with a wide happy smile. Grillby returns the smile and then looks down at Fuku who is entranced by the colors.

"Hehe. It'll keep her moving that's for sure. On good summer days especially." Sans says. The party goes well and eventually that night everyone goes home. As the family get home and begin to split into their rooms, Vrinda comes up to Sans with… some what of an attitude?

"Sans." Vrinda says. Sans takes off his coat and tosses it in his room before turning to her. He doesn't have a good feeling about her tone.

"Yeah?"

"Sans why did you buy something made of GLASS and choking parts for a baby?" Vrinda asks, clearly having been thinking about it and letting it eat at her.

"Uh… what? It's not for her to PLAY with, Ma." Sans says, trying to laugh it off like a joke.

"What if she gets a hold of it? She might hurt herself."

Sans stands there, curious. Is his mom actually serious right now?

"Mom, you're jokin' right?"

"I am NOT joking. Selena probably thinks we're insane for letting you hand over something made of dangerous glass and choking parts to their new born baby." Vrinda says with arms folded. Sans squints, unable to believe this. He mutters something under his breath with a sigh.

"Excuse me?" Vrinda says. She knows that tone of Sans'. He said something rude to her and pretended it was just a sigh.

"Nothin' Ma, look if they don't like it or something they can throw it away or whatever okay? And it's not like Fuku can choke on it, she doesn't have LUNGS. She's made of FIRE, if you haven't noticed. Besides don't you trust Grillby's and Selena's parenting skills or something? Do you think they're just gonna let their baby HOLD it and PLAY with it? Don't you think they'd check to see if everything was secure? Even if it wasn't, they could weld it together. With their FLAMES."

"For heavens' sake. Don't buy anything dangerous like that again Sans Gaster."

Sans gives her a small glare and shrugs. His mom NEVER uses his full name unless he's REALLY in trouble. Which pisses him off. He's an adult dammit, she can't talk to him like that even if she is his mom!

"Whatever, Ma. Night." Sans says and goes into his room with a small slam. Vrinda stands there in slight shock. Sans doesn't slam his door. Like, ever.

Papyrus was listening from his room and the hot feeling of discomfort vibrates all over his body. A squabble? Between his MOM and his BROTHER? What is going on?... They were both acting weird and aggressive… What on earth was that about?...

Vrinda goes back to her and Gaster's room and asks him the same question.

"[I'M NOT SURE… I'VE NOTIECD HE'S BEEN ATING A BIT STRANGE FOR THE LAST COUPLE MONTHS. BUT… I WAS THINKING IT WAS JUST BECAUSE IT'S WINTER AND HE'S GOT JOINT PAIN OR SOMETHING… BUT IT SEEMS LIKE SOMETHING IS UP…]" Gaster says and ponders what the problem could be. Vrinda gets into her pyjamas and just shakes her head, trying to rid herself of irritation.

"I don't know what it is, but I sure hope it's resolved fast. We don't have time for him to have an attitude. We need him to focus so he can help Papyrus. The faster we get his training done the better for everyone." Vrinda says and flops in bed.

May (1950)

Small arguments and tiffs happen more and more often now between Sans and Vrinda. Gaster and Papyrus watch the two be passive aggressive towards each other and bring more sarcasm to the conversations. They're small, but they're beginning to build…

Things are said that Gaster and Papyrus are sure the two will regret saying eventually.

"Why can't you hold your tongue like you were taught in YOUR training Sans?" Vrinda says with a sigh over her morning coffee cup.

"I ain't built that way. Kind of a shame honestly that I say what I want." Sans would reply.

"Sans, you're so irresponsible! Pick up your socks for crying out loud, I'm not your maid and I will not do it for you!" Vrinda scolds.

"Sans, you can't slack off during the race! You have to try harder! You can't get dead last EVERY SINGLE TIME! Look how Fast Papyrus is growing! He's going to leave you in HIS dust instead of the other way around soon."

"Don't be lazy, Sans Gaster. Your brother is doing so much and you can't do the same?"

Vrinda scolds Sans a lot these days. Sans really does do his best to stay quiet. Sometimes snarky comments come out, and he gives off some very irritated energy and long suffering looks. But he just keeps everything else inside and tries to internalize it. Just like he was taught to when he was ten years old. Internalize.

October (1950)

Gaster has decided to separate Sans and Vrinda for a while and sends Papyrus and Sans on small missions. He declares Sans Papyrus' Captain for now on these missions. Very… very boring missions. To Sans anyway.

It's cold out these days. Papyrus bundles up with a wool coat and scarves and a hat. Sans doesn't care much for any of that stuff. He just wears a fleece coat and his regular hat.

"Don't you two drag water or snow into this house, understand me?" Vrinda says, mostly trying not to sound like an asshole because Papyrus is there.

"Whatever." Sans says.

"Y-YES MOTHER!" Papyrus says, trying to save the conversation a bit.

The two walk slowly down the sidewalk. The tension is a little high for Papyrus. He can still feel his brother's angry energy pretty clearly and he can't stand it anymore. He's got to say something.

"WOWWIE I'M SO GLAD TO FINALLY BE OUT OF THAT STUFFY WAREHOUSE FOR A CHANGE! I MISSED FRESH AIR." Papyrus says with a smile and looks down at his brother.

"For real. It's good to be away from everything, even if it's just for a little while for a little mission. It's getting stuffy at home too." Sans says. Papyrus can't stop his smile from dropping a little.

They complete their short mission of going to some of the stores and asking them how things are. Papyrus mostly watches Sans to see how it's done properly on the field. But Papyrus thinks it's just how he normally talks, so he takes the next store and does just as Sans did. Being charming and sweet really does come naturally to him. Only one store, a gas station, seems to have a problem that Sans and Pap note. A small gang of punk kids are going around vandalizing stuff. They really only appear to be in their early teens. Sans says he's sure it isn't gang related, just some punks trying to act cool.

"We'll look into it. Just to make you feel safer." Sans says with a charming smile. The shop keeper smiles and relaxes.

"Thank you Sans. I hope it's nothing serious..."

"If it is then we'll take care of that too. But you know what to do if something fishy starts happening." Sans says. The shop keep nods.

"I sure do."

"Good. Now let's see here... I'll take the number three and a couple of those beef sticks." Sans says, pointing to the things he wants.

"AND I WILL TAKE… THIS CANDY HERE AND ONE OF THESE CHOCOLATE BARS!" Papyrus says. Sans inwardly sighs at how ungraceful his brother is still, even after a year of training. He gets too relaxed around people he's familiar with. Totally let's his guard down.

The gas station keeper gets what they ask for and ring them up. The two leave and wave at the owner and walk home.

Vrinda and Gaster are out to have a little get together with the Bonanno family tonight so the boys are home alone for the first time in forever. They each take off their coats and hats and stuff and plop on the couch, turning on the TV.

"AH, IT'S NICE TO SIT DOWN. IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE WE'VE JUST BEEN HOME RELAXING."

"Yeah." The two zone out and watch TV for a good hour before either of them speak again.

"Hey Papyrus…" Sans says. Papyrus doesn't look down at Sans, tired.

"YES BROTHER?"

"How do you feel about your training?" Papyrus raises a brow and looks down at his brother now.

"HOW DO YOU MEAN?"

"I mean… How do you feel about mom and dad?"

Papyrus sits up now and actually raises his voice a little.

"I LOVE THEM VERY MUCH BUT-…. I CAN'T HELP BUT THINK THEY PRAISE ME TOO MUCH FOR DOING SOMETHING THAT I SHOULD BE DOING IN THE FIRST PLACE. IT'S…" Papyrus leans back and seems to be trying to find the right words to say…

"IT'S NEARLY SUFFOCATING. IT REMINDS ME OF BEING A CHILD AND… HONESTLY IT'S… I MEAN, IT'S NICE OF COURSE, BUT IT'S BECOMING A BIT MUCH!... DID THEY EVER DO THAT TO YOU?" Papyrus asks. He wonders if that's the hell that Sans was talking about. But his brother is quiet and doesn't make eye contact. He's quiet for a bit and Pap can almost see the wheels turning.

"Not at all." Sans did his best not to say that with any sort of acid or venom… but Papyrus heard it. He can tell the interactions with their mom is putting a strain on him and he wonders what exactly is going on…. It seems to be controlling parts of his life now…

The moment Papyrus opens his jaw to say something, the front door opens. Vrinda and Gaster walk in happily. Vrinda wears the biggest smile.  
"Jeez, did someone put something in your drinks or what?" Sans says more jokingly than sassily.

"[WHILE WE WERE AT THE GET TOGETHER WITH THE BONANNO'S, THEY GAVE US A CAR IN GOOD FAITH. WE CHECKED IT INSIDE AND OUT AND THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT. NO BOMBS, TRACKING DEVICES OR ANYTHING. IT'S THE CAR YOUR MOTHER'S WANTED FOR A FEW YEARS NOW. AND NOW SHE'S FINALLY GOT IT SO SHE'S REALLY HAPPY.]" Gaster explains with a happy smile.

"It's so pretty! We're going to have to teach you to drive now Papyrus! Oh this is so exciting!~" Vrinda says, jumping around in a spritely manner.

"OH, THAT IS VERY EXCITING! A CAR! WE'VE NEVER OWNED A CAR BEFORE!" Papyrus looks over at Sans, but he doesn't appear to be happy or upset either way. Neutral. Papyrus wonders why. Maybe Sans won't have to teleport around so much and use so much magic! He should be happy about THAT at least, right?

December (1950)

The car is used only once to drive the family to the hanger. Pap learns that it's not even in the same state. It's in Massachusetts just North of them... A rather long hour and a half away from their home in Rhode Island. Sans had been teleporting them all that far away? How does he do it every day with so many of them? Papyrus hasn't even begun to have been taught to teleport, but he can sense how much magic it takes. And now he SEES. And the longer the drive goes, the more Papyrus worries for his brother. He can feel himself wilting as time goes by, imagining all the work this must take. Sans gives Papyrus a small elbow and gives him a reassuring smile. He can tell what his brother is thinking. It's obvious. Papyrus tries to give him a smile back, but he can't help but worry. He wonders if this explains Sans' attitude lately. Is he being over worked? He uses all this magic getting them to the hanger and then he fights Pap magically for a lot of the day and then takes them back home! He's got to be running on fumes by the end of the day...

"Papyrus, are you quite alright?" Vrinda says, looking back at her youngest from the passenger seat. Pap sits up straight.

"AH YES, I'M OKAY!"

"It's his first time in a car, he's understandably nervous." Sans says.

"Aw honey, don't worry, were safe. It's sort of a long drive isn't it?"

"A-AH... YES." Papyrus says. He looks at Sans wondering why he covered for him. Maybe he just didn't want to start anything with their mom... Papyrus tries to use the training that he's gotten from Civetta to calm his magic down and hide it from others. He relaxes.

()

A week later the schedule of teleporting returns. The car is used rarely and only for slightly longer distance traveling which is also rare. Sans continues to use his teleporting magic.

Papyrus works twice as hard as he ever did before. If his brother can use so much magic and only be aggravated at best instead of visibly exhausted and falling apart, then he can too!

But Papyrus still never wins magic fights. Sans continues to hand Pap his boney ass every day.  
On this day though, after the magic fight, Vrinda says something…

Sans doesn't hold back, flinging bones white and blue from every direction at Papyrus in different patterns and at different speeds. Papyrus gets hit several times and crashes into the ground. But Sans charges him anyway. Papyrus saves himself though, rolling out of the way and raising thick bones to shield himself. Sans breaks through them easily.

()

It's a good fight and Sans helps Papyrus up when he falls back, magic used up. Pap goes to Gaster who has food for him to raise his HP and Gaster congratulates him on surviving so long today.  
Sans stretches and yawns, having used a bit of magic himself, but still good. Vrinda comes up to him with a weird strained look on her face.

"Sans, you're cutting it too close... You need to go easier on your little brother." She says. Sans doesn't look at her right away, trying to remain composed.

"No." He says finally.

"No?" Vrinda raises a brow and stands up straighter.

"No. I won't go easy on him. Unlike you and dad, I'm not going to treat Papyrus like a child." Sans finally says. Vrinda gives Sans a squint.

"I'm not 100% sure I like your tone right now Sans..." Vrinda says, lowering her voice a little.

"That's fine. Because I'm not 100% liking the way you're training Papyrus." Sans says, clearly straining now not to use a sassy tone. Vrinda is quiet for a second... until she responds with dark irritation.

"Excuse me?" She says. Sans faces her fully now and looks up at her.

"If I'm a bad guy bent on killing Papyrus, then I wouldn't hold back. I'd try to do it fast so I could get out of there. Papyrus has to learn how to defend himself properly, and if I go easy on him then he'll get dusted in a second." Sans says, raising his voice a little.

"But you're NOT a bad guy, you're his BROTHER!"

"And you're his mom! You're supposed to-" Sans tries to take a breath, but it's clear that he's angry.  
Papyrus looks at the two nervously. He's heard them bicker before, but it never sounded like this... It sounds like it's getting worse.

"Sans, he's only been training for a year and ten months now!"

"When I was at this stage, I was already stabbing people to death! You're not training Pap NEARLY as hard as you trained me! You two were almost literally touring me! I was eleven! You two would train me within an inch of my life!" Sans finally explodes, facing Vrinda all the way now.

"You baby Papyrus like he's stupid or something instead of training him hard! I only got done in five years because you two kicked my ass! Papyrus gets a SCRATCH and you two worry like he's a new born deer!"

"Sans, Papyrus isn't ready yet for stuff like that! He can't shoot a target that looks like a person!" Vrinda shouts back.

"If he's not ready to protect himself it's because OF YOU!" Sans yells, pointing sharply at Vrinda.

"He shouldn't even have to BE here! YOU could have easily lied to him instead of-"

"What, telling him the TRUTH!?" Sans says.

Gaster takes some steps towards his family and holds his hands up.

"[COME ON YOU TWO, YOU SHOULDN'T BE TALKING LIKE THIS TO EACH OTHER…]" Gaster says a bit quietly. But Sans completely ignores him, zeroed in on Vrinda.

"He wouldn't be in this mess if you two had told him about all of this sooner! /I'm/ the one that wanted him in early so he could at LEAST fight to protect himself. But YOU TWO wanted to keep him in the dark his whole life! Like he wouldn't find out someday!" Sans shouts.

"But I already know why you didn't want him in." He continues in a low voice.

"Because you think you messed up by letting ME in. And you didn't want Pap to get dirty like ME." Sans says.

Papyrus is silently watching in horror as his brother seems to finally be unraveling. This is what he wanted to say? This is how he felt? He thinks he understands now… Sans said before that training was hell. That his parents were awful. He wasn't saying that jokingly, he completely meant it. But for Papyrus things are completely different… Sans is right. If something serious were to happen, WOULD Papyrus be able to protect himself right?

Vrinda is taken aback... She doesn't respond to Sans' comment and that just confirmed it for Sans. He can't stop his mouth from running now…

"You didn't want your infallible angel to be ruined like you ruined me! Well, sorry I dragged him down with m!" Sans yells.

"Sorry that I couldn't be perfect in every way imaginable!"

"[SANS-]"

"I'm sorry your perfect replacement son is 'ruined' now because he has a tainted ruined brother!" Sans yells…. He realizes his hands are in fists and that his magic has flared into huge billowing blue flames...

Papyrus stares at Sans both in shock and with sad realization... His own brother... resents him? Is mad at him?

Sans looks at his family who have all sort of huddled together, amazed and saddened at his words. He feels even more like an outcast with those looks on their faces… He puts a hand to his face and shakes his head, looking down. Without another word, Sans teleports away, leaving the hangar silent…


	7. Chapter 6

The family watches Sans disappear in shock. Papyrus looks at his parents, wanting them to say something, to clear it up, to prove that-… that-….. He doesn't know, but he just wants them to say something!

"MOTHER?... FATHER?..." Papyrus says quietly. Gaster looks down a little and puts his hand on Vrinda's opposite shoulder. She looks down too…

"He thinks… that we replaced him?… God, Wingdings what the hell is wrong with us?..." Vrinda says. Papyrus inwardly gulps…

"[WELL… WE MADE OUR SON THINK SOME SAD THINGS… BUT HE WASN'T WRONG ABOUT SOME.]"

"DAD… I WASN'T A REPLACEMENT WAS I?" Pap asks. Both parents turn around now and shake their heads quickly.

"No, never. We wouldn't replace either of you. But… Sans was right that I never wanted you to join us. I saw what this life did to him. How it hurt him and how it changed him. How… How WE hurt him and changed him…. I didn't want the same thing to happen to you… But…"

"[WE WERE FOOLISH TO THINK THAT YOU'D NEVER FIND OUT. SANS WAS RIGHT THAT WE WERE BABYING YOU. WE… WE DIDN'T WANT TO TAKE AWAY WHAT MADE YOU YOURSELF. YOUR KINDNESS, YOUR BUBBLINESS AND WILL TO SEE GOOD IN EVERYONE. SANS-… WE TOOK THAT FROM SANS. WE TRAINED HIM VERY HARSHLY BECAUSE /WE/ WERE TRAINED HARSHLY AND AT THE TIME IT DIDN'T OCCUR TO US TO TRAIN HIM A BIT MORE GENTLY. BUT I THINK WE SEE NOW WHAT OUR TRAINING DID TO US. IT MADE US HARD, AND WE-…." Gaster sighs and rubs what would be the bridge of his nose.

"We weren't very good parents to him… Or to you. We SHOULD have told you about this sooner…. And I'm sorry we didn't."

Papyrus stares at his parents, unable to believe that they were so mean to his brother… He realizes now that his brother didn't GET a childhood. He grew up fighting, and planning missions and hurting people… So he understands why Sans' words were childish. Jealous even. He missed childhood and seems to be grasping at it while Papyrus was being showered with kindness and love that he never received…

"WHAT…. WHAT SHOULD WE DO ABOUT SANS?..." He asks quietly.

"[I THINK WE SHOULD GIVE HIM SOME SPACE.]" Gaster says. He's inwardly glad that the flame family and Civetta weren't here to witness this very personal family matter.

"What should we do now Gaster? Should we stop training for today?" Vrinda says, looking up at Gaster. Gaster shakes his head.

"[NO. THIS IS AN IMPORTANT TIME FOR PAPYRUS. WHAT DO YOU THINK SON? DO YOU WANT TO BE TRAINED… PROPERLY?]"

Papyrus stands up straight and gives his parents a determined look.

"I WANT YOU BOTH TO TRAIN ME EXACTLY LIKE YOU DID SANS. I'VE WANTED THAT FROM THE BEGINNING…." Pap says with a nod. If what he's been going through was his parents going easy on him, then he's a little terrified to see what them being serious is like. Gaster and Vrinda look at each other and give each other a small nod.

"Then we'll give you the same training Sans got. I hope you won't take it personally honey." Vrinda says. Papyrus shakes his head.

"I WON'T. I KNOW YOU BOTH LOVE ME AND WOULDN'T KILL ME." The look on his mom's face worries him.

"RIGHT?"

"That'll be up to you." She says…

()

The rest of that night is terrifying for Papyrus. Sans really wasn't kidding after all. Vrinda and Gaster are scary! They chase him, throw knives at him, and actually TRY to hurt him. They don't coddle him when he dodges or fights back with everything he's got or gets hurt. He's knocked down and rolls along the ground hard. He can feel his HP being shaved off and it starts to worry him. But Papyrus is sure that this is what they want. To scare him so that he'll fight for his life. So he does.

()

When they finish training at 9 PM, Gaster teleports the three of them home. Sans isn't there. Papyrus is tired and beaten, but the feeling of worry quickly steam rolls over all of that.

"SANS ISN'T BACK YET?..." Papyrus asks.

"I don't imagine he WILL be back for a while…. But we can see where he is if he hasn't cut off the connection to us from the chairs…" Vrinda goes to the little space of wall and presses the button. The false door slides open to the side and the three of them walk in. Papyrus' chair still hasn't been activated yet because he hasn't been inducted… So he has to rely on the word of his parents if they find Sans.

Vrinda and Gaster sit in their chairs and Papyrus sits in his. The names in magic disappear. Gaster's and Vrinda's eyes glow purple and yellow as they look to see where Sans is.

Papyrus sits and waits for his parents to say something. He can feel himself nodding off though, exhausted from the REAL training.

Vrinda looks around at nothing until she stops.

"There he is…. At Grillby's as expected. He's okay Papyrus. Whenever Sans gets upset he always goes to Grillby's. And if he's not at Grillby's then… I don't know where he's at. So try and remember that."

"YES MOTHER." Papyrus says. He already knew that though and is surprised that his parents didn't know. Or maybe they thought HE didn't know. That's equally as bothersome.

"[PAPYRUS, YOU SHOULD EAT SOMETHING AND THEN HEAD TO BED. YOU'LL BE GETTING UP EARLY AGAIN TOMORROW AND YOU'LL NEED ALL THE PRECIOUS SLEEP YOU CAN GET.]" Gaster says, zoning back into their present space.

"YES…. DO YOU THINK SANS WILL COME BACK SOON?" Papyrus asks. Vrinda zones back in after Gaster and blinks her sockets a few times.

"Your father and I have a lot of apologizing and making up to do…. I'm sorry you heard your brother say things like that. I want to tell you again that you're not a replacement. We love you very very much and you and Sans both are very important to us… Please don't ever forget that?" Vrinda says looking very sad that such an incident as this even had to happen. Papyrus nods.

"I WON'T MOTHER. I ALWAYS KNEW YOU LOVED US BOTH… SANS IS JUST UPSET. I'M SURE HE'LL COME AROUND. WE'RE FAMILY." Papyrus says with a tired smile. He gets up shakily and heads out… But he uses what's left of his brain power to hide his magic so maybe he can listen in on his parents. He waits for a while until he finally hears them speak.

"God Gaster what have we done?... I… I was being so mean to Sans. I really was comparing them… I'm such an awful mother. No mom should ever compare her children the way I did…" Vrinda says, leaning forward and resting her face in her hands. Gaster sits facing her and rubs her back.

"[WE BOTH MESSED UP, VRINDA…]"

"No, I REALLY messed up…. I found every excuse I could to reprimand Sans… I don't know what was wrong with me. What IS wrong with me. He was just being so-... I didn't know how he felt and instead of asking what was wrong, I…. I fought with my own son. I'm a real piece of work…."

"[WELL… NOW WE CAN TALK TO HIM. IF WE CAN GET HIM TO RELAX A LITTLE, WE CAN TALK TO HIM AND WE CAN GET THIS ALL SORTED OUT. SANS WILL COME BACK. LET'S GO GET SOME SLEEP FOR NOW ALRIGHT?]"

Papyrus can hear his dad kiss his mom's head and he quickly sneaks to his room and closes the door.

He gets in bed without even changing clothes and just thinks about what Sans said… He thinks he's tainted and ruined and broken… while Papyrus is the perfect infallible angle. And Vrinda sorta confirmed it really. They were treating Papyrus different because they didn't want him to turn out like Sans… As if he were a bad person, the black sheep. Angry… He had no idea Sans felt so badly about himself and how bad PAPYRUS made him feel… It makes him sick to his not-stomach. He loves his brother so much and to think that Sans resents him makes him so sad…

He thinks about it until he falls into a restless sleep.

()

The next morning Sans isn't back yet. Papyrus gets up and goes to the secret room. His parents are in there and they seems to be spying on Sans.

"ANYTHING, MOTHER? FATHER?"

"No. He's just going around to all of the shops and making sure things are okay…" Vrinda seems like she didn't sleep well.

"We've tried talking to him but he's cut off communications. Of course. This is his way of trying to bring some normality back. Some control I imagine. He's always done this, even as a child. He did things that were familiar…" Vrinda is quiet, watching with Gaster...

"[ANYWAY, HE'S FINE. WE'LL GET BACK TO YOUR TRAINING NOW PAPYRUS.]" Gaster stands up and takes Vrinda's hand and helps her stand up. They exit the secret room and Gaster teleports the three of them to the hangar and begin training right away starting with phase one as always. Grillby and Flameheart are there today. Papyrus figures this is a good chance to ask about his brother AND work on his language.

The fake city is summoned, but it's different this time. It's a different part, with Flameheart's being at the very back. Papyrus heads right to it. Vrinda turned up the buzzing watch up to 8, the highest it's ever gone and Pap just hopes he doesn't mess up…

He makes it to Flameheart's and walks in as he normally does, giving the place a short once over. Fake hologram people and monsters everywhere as usual. Pap goes to the bar stools and orders a drink.

"HELLO FLAMEHEART, GRILLBY."

"Hello Papyrus."

"HOW ARE THINGS AROUND HERE?... DID YOU SEE ANYONE?" A violent buzz. Papyrus tenses up and grits his teeth, but he keeps as straight a face as he can. Flameheart can clearly see that the buzzing has gotten more violent…

"I have. Heard a lot too." He says. Papyrus looks up at Flameheart… and then over at Grillby who actually gives him a nod. That tells Papyrus that Sans probably got drunk and spilled the whole thing. Pap does his best not to slump and look upset.

"I've heard lots of things. Children rough housing at home. Breaking things even." Papyrus finds this news disturbing….. That last sentence was code. "Children" indicates the age obviously, and "rough housing" means they're causing trouble. "Home" means the immediate area of the city. "Breaking things" is code for murder… So some kids are causing trouble around the city… They're MURDERING people… Pap and Sans were just at a gas station who said there was someone vandalizing the area… But he hasn't heard about any of these deaths at all! How did something so drastic not make it to him?

"HM. HAS ANYONE TOLD THEM THAT THEY SHOULD BEHAVE?" Papyrus says.

"No. But I don't think they'd be very good listeners anyway." Flameheart says. Papyrus wonders…

"Kids are like that though. Disciplining them will make for a chore I'm sure."

"I BET. WELL, I HOPE IT'S TAKEN CARE OF SOON." Papyrus nods a bit.

Training continues hard for the rest of the day. His first day of actually getting the crud beaten out of him. Chased like an animal. He can't imagine a ten and eleven year old Sans having to deal with this…  
Grillby and Flameheart see what's going on and they ramp up their training too. Papyrus learns that his flame friends are equally as terrifying as his parents! They surprise him by throwing knives and swords at him and starting random sword fights. The sounds of the knives in the air are scary, whispy, but they help Papyrus sound out where they are and where he should dodge. He almost doesn't make it several times… Now he knows why his previous training was so irritating to Sans. It was NOTHING like what he went through. So Papyrus remembers constantly that if his young brother was able to do this training, then he can do it too!

That day ends and all Papyrus wants to do is go to sleep and talk to his brother about how hard he's working and how he understands now, for real. The family sits in the secret room and sees where Sans is.

"It's snowing again..." Vrinda notes.

"[WHAT IS HE DOING?... HE SEEMS LIKE HE'S LOOKING FOR SOMEONE... COULD IT BE LINKED TO THE RECENT MURDERS?]"

Gaster and Vrinda think on it while they stare... until they look at Papyrus. Pap sits up as straight as he waits to see what they have to say.

"[PAPYRUS. WE'RE GOING TO SEE WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE MURDERS IN TOWN. WE NEED YOU TO CONTINUE YOUR TRAINING TOMORROW WITH CIVETTA.]" Gaster says. Papyrus nods.

"But for now we should all get some rest." Vrinda says. She stands up and stretches, Gaster standing up beside her.

"DO YOU THINK SANS WILL BE OKAY? IF THERE'S A MURDERER ON THE LOOSE, SHOULD WE REALLY BE LETTING HIM STAY OUT?" Papyrus asks.

"It'll be alright, honey. Sans has dealt with things like this many times before. If he finds the killer before we do, he'll take care of them."

Papyrus knows what they mean by "take care of" but he can't stop a bad feeling from sending currents of electricity through his bone marrow… Something is wrong and he can feel it!... But what is it?

()

A week passes. Sans still won't come home and the only information about him that Papyrus and the family can get is through the flame family. Grillby and Flameheart tell the skeleton family that Sans wasn't doing so well at first, upset that he said certain things, but his pride is keeping him from apologizing and returning home. But now something seems to have distracted him. The murders around town. Homeless people, prostitutes, children… they all disappear and then reappear murdered at the place where people would find them.

It's very stressful for Papyrus' parents. They're supposed to be protecting people but an unknown killer is running around… Vrinda feels especially bad about the children… They range from 3 to 10 years old so far… 6 of them.

One day early in the morning Papyrus can't watch his parents be so stressed out any longer.

"MOTHER, FATHER, COULD I MAKE A SUGGESTION?" Papyrus says. His mom and dad look up at him from their seats at the breakfast table, clearly not having slept very well, which Papyrus finds strange. But he knows that it's mainly because Sans still isn't home.

"Yes honey, what is it?" Vrinda says, forking boredly at her food.

"I THINK… I THINK YOU TWO SHOULD GO ON A DATE."

The parents give Papyrus a strange look, and then they look at each other.

"YOU TWO… WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU /ACTUALLY/ WENT AND DID NOTHING FOR A DAY? NOTHING BUT RELAX AND HANG OUT TOGETHER? CAN YOU EVEN REMEMBER?"

Gaster and Vrinda stare at each other…

"[I REMEMBER EVERY DATE WE'VE EVER BEEN ON. BUT YOU'RE RIGHT SON, IT'S BEEN A WHILE… MAYBE WE SHOULD RELAX A LITTLE.]"

"But… Sans…"

"FLAMEHEART SAID THAT SANS' PRIDE IS KEEPING HIM AWAY FOR NOW. BUT I KNOW HE'LL COME HOME WHEN HE'S READY. WE ALL KNOW HE'S SAFE. YOU TWO NEED A BREAK."

"Now is a pretty bad time to take a break…" Vrinda says, looking down a little.

"MOTHER, THE PROTECTION OF THIS CITY IS NOT SOLELY UP TO YOU AND FATHER! THE POLICE ARE HERE TOO. AND THEY WANT THE SAME THING WE DO, WHICH IS TO HELP AND PROTECT. BUT EVEN THE POLICE OFFICERS GO ON DATES WITH THEIR SPOUSES. YOU BOTH DESERVE A BREAK I THINK… BESIDES. CIVETTA AND I AND THE FLAME FAMILY CAN LOOK AFTER SANS TO MAKE SURE HE'LL BE ALRIGHT!" Papyrus says confidently. Vrinda mulls it over for nearly an entire minute before looking back up at Gaster, wondering how he feels. Gaster gives her a sweet almost tired smile.

"[I THINK HE'S RIGHT MY DEAR. WE'VE BEEN GOING FULL SPEED FOR A LONG TIME. WE DESERVE TO SLOW DOWN. AT LEAST FOR A DAY. WHAT DO YOU SAY? I'LL TAKE YOU ANYWHERE YOU WANT TO GO.]" Vrinda can't stop a small smile back. Gaster holds out his holed hand and then Vrinda takes it with her own boney fingers.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt. We can't solve cases and make heads roll very well if we're wound so tightly."

"[THAT'S THE SPIRIT MY LOVE. GOOD IDEA PAPYRUS.]" Gaster says. Papyrus smiles widely at his parents and nods several times.

"[BUUUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN SLACK ON YOUR TRAINING. GRILLBY WILL BE TEACHING YOU WHILE WE HAVE OUR DATE. CIVETTA AND FLAMEHEART WILL BE WATCHING SANS AND GATHERING MORE INFORMATION.]" He says THAT with a smile too. Papyrus can't stop a small slump, but accepts it. It's what he asked for after all.

"Oh, Gaster I just had a thought. While we're out on our date, why don't we stop by to see Muffet? SHE'LL have some information for sure." Vrinda says raising a finger.

"[YOU'RE RIGHT. WE'LL HAVE TO BRING SOME EXTRA CASH ALONG. ANYWAY, I SUPPOSE WE'LL BE GETTING READY FOR OUR DATE NOW PAPYRUS. I'LL SEND YOU TO THE WAREHOUSE. YOU'LL ONLY HAVE TO WAIT A LITTLE WHILE FOR GRILLBY TO ARRIVE.]"

"ALRIGHT. I'M READY TO GO! I HOPE YOU TWO HAVE FUN ON YOUR DATE.~" Papyrus says with a small lilt at the end. Vrinda glows a soft yellow color which means she's blushing.

"Oh, we will.~" She says. Papyrus doesn't want to know what her tone means, so he just stands up and prepares to be teleported. Gaster raises a hand towards him and as he's teleporting his son, he leans in to kiss Vrinda sweetly. It's the last thing he sees before the warehouses cold metal and concrete surround him.

At least his parents will be able to get a little relaxation in before they all properly deal with these murders. They deserve it.

Ten minutes later, Grillby pops up out of nowhere.

"Hello Papyrus." He says. He sounds tired. Papyrus snerks at him.

"HELLO GRILLBY. YOU SEEM TIRED. HOW'S LIFE WITH A BABY? I'VE HEARD IT'S DIFFICULT."

"You may laugh now, but when you have a child you won't think it's quite so HUMEROUS." Grillby says with a thin white glowing smirk. Papyrus sighs.

"YOU REALLY HAVE BEEN TALKING TO MY BROTHER TOO MUCH. ANYWAY, HOW IS HE? HAS HE COME TO YOU AT ALL IN THE LAST COUPLE DAYS?" Papyrus asks, walking up to Grillby who rolls up his sleeves.

"Yes. He came by very early this morning with the same look he's had on for the last week. He still feels bad about what he said. As if you weren't standing there. He wants to tell you that he's sorry that words directed at your mother ended up hurting you instead, and that's what he wanted the least. Sans loves you very much Papyrus. He may not be able to say sorry to your face right now, but I'm sure he knows that I'm relaying the information." Grillby summons the knives and guns and ammo tables. Papyrus nods a bit to himself. He knows that Sans didn't mean to hurt him.

"THANK YOU FOR TELLING ME… IF… IT'S NOT TOO MUCH TROUBLE, COULD I ASK YOU TO… GIVE HIM A MESSAGE FROM ME?" Papyrus says. He walks to the tables and watches the targets rise up from the ground like reverse quicksand. Grillby nods once, picking up a few knives and giving them a squint as if judging their edges.

"COULD YOU TELL HIM THAT I UNDERSTAND? AND THAT I LOVE HIM VERY MUCH TOO? AND THAT OUR PARENTS FEEL AWFUL? THEY'VE BEEN SO STRESSED OUT LATELY GRILLBY, AND I CAN'T EVEN HELP THEM BECAUSE I'M INADEQUATELY TRAINED. UH… NO OFFENSE."

"None taken. I'll be sure to tell him… And I think you DID help your parents. Your father gave me a call and told me that he and Vrinda were going out. And that I should train you harder on knives and guns… The point is, I know you had something to do with that and I agree with your sentiment. They should go out more. Especially now."

"ESPECIALLY NOW?..." Papyrus says, tilting his head. Grillby nods and gives one knife a test throw, warming himself up.

"Yes. The murders that are happening. They know they're being watched by someone. They WANT people to come looking for them. I think that this is an opportunity for your parents to lay low for a little bit to stay out of the killer's radar. At least for a day." Grillby faces Papyrus half way, wondering if he's even listening. It's still rare that Grillby talks as much as he's been and he worries that he may drone on. But he's met with the usual response, Papyrus listening as intently as one is able to.

"HM. I HADN'T THOUGHT ABOUT THAT. I GUESS I DID HELP! THE GREAT PAPYRUS STRIKES AGAIN, GRILLBY!" Papyrus nearly shouts, standing up straight. Grillby gives him a tiny smile… and then throws a knife at him. It's fast and Papyrus nearly doesn't dodge. He lifts his arm and the knife stabs through his outfit and only stops because the handle hits his radius and ulna bones. The knife went through his arm!

"Don't get brave Papyrus. Pay attention now. We don't have time to waste. If I don't train you hard today then I'LL be the one to get a glare from your parents. I'd prefer if I were able to avoid that."

"A-AH, YES."

Grillby is sure to… GRILL Papyrus today. Papyrus wonders if he was ever present for Sans' training. Was Flameheart? Civetta was for sure. He wonders what the exact environment was for his brother…. Just so he can know his plight better… But for now he has to focus on his own training. To get better! To help his family for real!

()

()

The day melts away very nicely for Gaster and Vrinda. The snow is lovely and luckily there aren't many people out. Well, not many humans out anyway. Feathered and furry monsters roam the sidewalks and stores.

Gaster and Vrinda go everywhere. They talk to people and store owners joyfully. Of course they hear of the murders and some people ask them what's going on. They can only say they're working on it even as they speak.

But once they decide to leave the more populated area of town, they go and relax at a coffee shop.

"[THAT DRESS LOOKS WONDERFUL ON YOU VRINDA.]" Gaster says. Vrinda giggles. Her dress is to the knees and is a classic navy blue color with a stripped collar and short sleeves. White heels adorn her feet.

"You've said that six times already Gaster. But I'll accept the compliment every time. Thank you honey. You ALWAYS look handsome. I'm so lucky to have such a good looking, smart, strong husband." Gaster's got on a black suit with a nice bright purple tie and his favorite hat with a dark purple ribbon around it.

"[GOODNESS, YOU'RE GOING TO SHOW ME UP WITH THE COMPLIMENTS. I'M THE LUCKY ONE. A BEAUTIFUL, INTELLIGENT AND POWERFUL WIFE IS EVERY MANS DREAM. I'M GLAD YOU GRACED ME WITH YOUR PRESENCE MY ANGEL.]" Gaster kisses Vrinda's hand and the two hold hands and stare at each other like young teens in love.

The afternoon disappears and Gaster has taken Vrinda to a spa by this point. The two get to soak together in a couples tub for an hour and then head into the wooden sauna. It's not really that hot to the two of them, but it's still really nice.

The two buy random little trinkets for one another until sunset and they begin to walk towards their home.

"Gaster, we totally forgot about muffet! It's a good thing we didn't set up an appointment or anything… She's got a watch on each wrist so she'd KNOW we were late."

"[INDEED. WE COULD STILL GO TALK TO HER IF YOU WANTED. WE'VE GOT AN HOUR LEFT OF DAYLIGHT LEFT.]" Gaster says looking at the sun setting on his right to the east.

"Hm… We'd better. The faster we can get that done the more time we can spend at home alone for a little bit. I wonder how Papyrus' training with Grillby is going."

"[THEY'VE BEEN FRIENDS FOR MANY YEARS, BUT I STILL THINK GRILLBY IS ROASTING HIM.]" Gaster gives Vrinda a tiny little grin, proud of his little joke. Vrinda just gives him an eye roll and a smile.

"He'd better be."

As they walk to Muffet's bakery, Vrinda stops walking and grabs Gaster's sleeve. She stares straight ahead but isn't focusing on anything in front of her. Gaster stares down at her concerned.

"[VR—]"

"Sh!"

The two listen and Gaster finally hears what Vrinda does. A child screaming for help. He looks down at her and Vrinda shoots up a look at him and then she immediately starts running to the source of the sound. Gaster teleports their shopping bags back home and chases after her.

The two turn a few corners and then finally get into the darker more crappy part of the city and the screams become louder, begging for whoever is hurting them to please not kill them.

Vrinda and Gaster can't believe their ears. They're going to see who the murderer is finally!

They slide into the area where the screaming is coming from and what they see is not a new sight… but it's still very scary.

A teenager in a dark green wool coat with a wool hat of the same color that covers their medium length chocolate brown hair. They hold up a knife and get ready to deal the final blow. The child beneath them looks to be about 5 years old, a girl with dirty blond hair in what looks like it was once a braid and a worn out outfit that looks like it was once a cowboy costume. The girl screams.

"Please no! BROTHER! BROTHER HELP MEEE!" She screams and sobs, holding her hands in front of her. The teenager swings their knife down, but it never makes it to the child.

A huge white beam crashes into them and smashes them into the wall of the building behind them. Gaster slides in next to the little girl and picks her up in his arms and teleports quickly.

"Ugh…" The teenager says, rubbing their head. Vrinda rushes up and sharp broken white bones immediately pin the teen to the bricks.

"So kid, what exactly do you think you're doing?" Vrinda says, her hand up with many bones floating in the air.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you, young one." She says.

The teenager looks up with a grimace. Their eyes are red and they have youthful pink cheeks. Vrinda supposes they're a boy by their features… But she's mostly surprised at his eyes. No human has red eyes… Truly red eyes. They're like orbs filled with blood.

"What am I doing?" The boy asks. He looks irritated at first… but then a sickening sharp grin pulls at their lips. Vrinda has learned for years to not feel afraid of anyone she faces. But this boy… Something about him gives her the creeps.

"I'm doing my job obviously. Not that I'm going to tell YOU, you boney bitch."

"Wow, you've got a mouth on you. Unsurprising. Some youth these days. Embarrassing. But anyway, so you work for someone and they ordered you to kill… Who exactly are your targets?" Vrinda says, walking a bit closer, hand still up.

"I don't think you heard me before. I'm not telling you anything." The boy says.

"Well I don't think you heard me either. I asked you a question. But maybe this will remind you." A ring of pointed bones surround the boy's neck and poke at him a bit. He doesn't look scared though.

"Any bells being rung?"

"Hehe. Nah. You don't scare me. Let's make a deal. I don't kill that kid and you let me go." The boy says without much conviction.

"Hmm… No, I don't feel like it. How about you tell me who you work for and I'll make your death quick. Ish…" Vrinda stays fifteen feet away from the boy, wary of him in every way.

"I don't think telling you would make a difference. Because the one that's going to die is you and the rest of your family." The boy says.

"Hehe. I don't think so. From the way I see things…" Vrinda tightens the spiky bone ring around the boys neck and draws blood. The boy finally looks a small bit nervous.

"… I'm the one that's going to kill you. I don't HAVE to know who you're working for, but it's just a perk that goes with killing you."

The boy is quiet for a bit… He grins a small bit though.

"Fine, I'll tell you. You'll meet us all soon enough anyway. I work for the Dreemurr family…. Hey, remember when I said that the one that's going to die is you and the rest of your family? Wanna know how I'm going to do that?" The boy says. Vrinda is doing her best to keep a straight face right now. The Dreemurr family… She's heard of them. But they reside hundreds of miles away. What are they doing on the East Coast?

"I do love information." She says with as much sarcasm as she's able. The boy is silent again…. His grin grows even wider. It's sick.

"You're going to do it for me."

The boy rips his wool coat at the arm and throws a knife at her.

Gaster teleports back.

Vrinda uses her free hand to grab the knife by the handle and she throws it back, stabbing the boys arm and pinning it to the bricks behind him.

"You brat." She looks at her hand that actually burns a little. When she looks up… Gaster is the one that's pinned to the wall with bones and a knife through his arm. Vrinda gasps and immediately releases the bones.

"G-Gaster!" She says with worry. Gaster rips the knife out of his arm and runs away.

"Wa-Wait!" From her side she sees the teen running up to her.

"What did you do?!" Vrinda yells, summoning a huge spiked bone. She thrusts it down, but the teen dodges and finally gets up to her and hugs her.

"[VRINDA!]" The teen says with Gaster's voice. Vrinda struggles to get away and she summons more bones and sends them towards herself and the teen. But all of the bones turn purple with magic and the teen grabs Vrinda's face. Was the teen always that tall? She's sure he wasn't.

"[VRINDA PLEASE, LOOK AT ME, STOP RIGHT NOW, IT'S ME!]" Gaster's voice comes again. Vrinda stares wide eyed at the teen… but their face and image starts to fade away. Gaster stands there in front of her. He's the one holding her face. He's the one talking to her.

"[VRINDA? CAN YOU SEE ME? PLEASE-… OH MY GOD… WHAT?]" Gaster says.

"Ga…Gast..er…" Vrinda's vision starts to swim and turn grey and black. She thinks she feels like she's shaking violently, but her consciousness is disappearing quickly. Vrinda grabs onto Gaster's suit and then everything goes black.

Vrinda's legs give out on her and Gaster has to catch her and hold her. His eyes are wide with horror.

"[VRINDA! WHAT THE HELL DID THAT KID DO?... VRINDA PLEASE SAY SOMETHING! WAKE UP!]" Gaster shouts. He gives her a few shakes, but she doesn't move.

What startled him was…

Red liquid comes from Vrinda's nasal cavity and runs down her face onto her white collar. Gaster can see her HP bar… Her max HP has been lowered…. It was 2500. But now it's 2410… 90 HP has been permanently removed from her. But how?! Why?!

The snow falls softly and everything around Gaster is quiet. He stares at his wife whose sockets are open but the life in the dark pits are gone. Blood starts to run down her face from her eyes now. Gaster holds her tightly and looks around. Nobody anywhere. Only the white flakes falling from the sky can hear his panicked breath.

"[NO NO NO, VRINDA HOLD ON! PLEASE HEAR ME AND KNOW THAT I'VE GOT YOU.]" Gaster stands up with his wife in his arms and disappears.


	8. Chapter 7

"Papyrus is allowed to take a break finally and he sits on a fold up chair. Grillby didn't go easy on him at all, that's for sure.

"Good work today Papyrus. You improved a lot. Now all you have to do is shoot targets that look like people. You have to get it done soon you know." Grillby says. Papyrus looks over at him and frowns.

"I KNOW… I GUESS IT'S JUST HARD TO IMAGINE TAKING SOMEONE'S LIFE FROM THEM… I HAVE NO RIGHT TO JUDGE THEM. IT'S HARD.

"I know it is Papyrus. It's very scary… But I'm sure that when the time comes, you'll be able to do it. And when it does, you shouldn't feel bad. I think that if YOU are the one that kills them, then they MUST have done something to deserve it. Trust your judgement." Grillby rolls up his sleeves a little more and begins to clean up the knife table. But he looks up suddenly.

"Yes?..." Grillby says to no one. "Wh…What?" Grillby looks over at Papyrus. Pap can't quite make out what sort of face he's making… but he has a bad feeling suddenly.

"Papyrus, your father is teleporting us both to your home." Grillby says. Papyrus' eyes widen a little. BOTH of them? That's never happened before. And why does Grillby sound so alarmed?

"The image of the world around them rips itself to pieces, and then reverses the process with the space that is the Gaster house.

"Papyrus sees his father next to the couch in the living room. He sees his mom laying down on it but she's not moving…

"F-FATHER? MOTHER? WHAT'S WRONG?" Papyrus and Grillby both walk over.

"Vrinda's face looks like she's half asleep. Blood stains come from her nose and eyes and Papyrus gasps and can't stop himself from taking a step back. He shakes his head confused and then goes directly next to his father's left.

"DAD! TELL ME WHAT HAS HAPPENED?!"

"[W-WE HEARD SOME KID SCREAMING FOR HELP. SO WE SEARCHED FOR IT AND WE FOUND A TEENAGER READY TO KILL THEM. I GOT THE CHILD AND TELEPORTED THEM SOMEWHERE SAFE, BUT WHEN I CAME BACK YOUR MOTHER AND THE TEENAGER WERE FIGHTING I THINK! THE KID THREW A KNIFE AT HER AND SHE THREW IT BACK, BUT IT HURT HER FOR SOME REASON. VRINDA SAID MY NAME AND THEN SHE LET THE BOY GO AND HE RAN OFF. SHE… SHE LOOKED SO SCARED. I- I RAN OVER TO HOLD HER BUT SHE THOUGHT I WAS SOMEONE ELSE. SHE EVEN TRIED TO STAB ME WITH HER MAGIC. BUT I CALLED TO HER AND BEGGED HER TO SEE ME AND FINALLY SHE DID. BUT…. BUT SHE STARTED TO SHAKE AND LOSE HER BALANCE. I-I-I'VE NEVER SEEN SOMETHING LIKE THAT. A-AND THEN BLOOD STARTED COMING OUT OF HER NOSE! SHE JUST COLLAPSED AND WAS SHAKING VIOLENTLY AND I—I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON, THIS HAS NEVER EVER HAPPENED BEFORE!]" Gaster says. Papyrus has never EVER heard his father so panicked before. And he's never seen his mom so out of it like this…

"[AND ON TOP OF THAT, HER MAX HP WAS CUT DOWN BY 90 SOMEHOW! AND SHE WON'T WAKE UP!]" A flaming hand is put on Gaster's shoulder. He looks up with worried eyes at Grillby. Grillby leans in and tries to remain the calm voice.

"Gaster, I know this is very scary right now, but you can't help her if you're in such a panic. Please, I need you to stop and think about this calmly. She's alive and her HP isn't going anywhere. Let that at least sooth you some." Grillby says. Gaster looks back down at Vrinda and looks down with a head shake.

"[I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED… TO HAVE SUCH A VIOLENT REACTION. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT IT WAS THAT DID IT TO HER! I-…]" Gaster's mouth becomes a tight thin line. He looks up at Papyrus who is just as horrified by all of this as he is.

"[FINE… PAPYRUS, GET FOOD AND WATER, GET SMELLING SALTS, /SOMETHING/. AND GRILLBY. I NEED YOU TO GET BACK TO YOUR FATHER AND TELL HIM WHAT'S HAPPENED. FIND A SPIDER, ANY SPIDER AND TELL THEM TOO. MUFFET NEEDS TO KNOW THIS SO SHE CAN TELL EVERYONE ELSE. AND IF YOU SEE SANS…. TELL HIM I NEED HIM TO COME HOME RIGHT NOW.]" Gaster says, doing his best to keep a calm voice. Papyrus doesn't wait to tell Grillby goodbye or anything, he just runs around and starts gathering things. Grillby nods. Gaster teleports him away and back to the bar… and then looks back at Vrinda, rubbing her skull lightly with his hand. He knows he shouldn't be scared. He shouldn't be worried. But… he just saw the love and light of his life go through something horrible. And he wasn't there to protect her. To do SOMETHING. Maybe he could have stopped this from happening if he were faster. Maybe if he didn't take the extra few seconds to ask the child if they were alright this could have been prevented…

"Gaster takes another look at the red stains on his wife's blank face… And now that he looks closely, he thinks they marks are strange. He leans in a bit…

"[THIS… ISN'T BLOOD. WHAT IS IT?... PAPYRUS, BRING ME A CLOTH AND PEROXIDE TOO!]" He calls.

"YES!" Papyrus shouts back. He's almost shaking with fear. His mother is hurt and the interaction with that teenager whoever they were has done something to her! Papyrus grabs small pieces of food and a cup of water. He rushes to Gaster and sets the stuff down on the end table that's next to arm of the couch where Vrinda lays. Then he rushes to the bathroom and grabs the peroxide and a wash cloth.

"[THANK YOU.]" Gaster says. Papyrus becomes lost in his own thoughts while he watches his father.

"If… If he had not told his parents to go out, would Vrinda have been hurt? This is his fault!... This is his fault… He told them to go out on a date and have fun for once, and now… Oh god…. What if his mother dies from this?

"Papyrus' bones rattle as he shakes with terror at the realization that he may have inadvertently and indirectly killed his own mother…

"Gaster carefully pours a small amount of peroxide on Vrinda's face by her left eye, catching it with the cloth that he holds to her cheek. The peroxide makes contact with the red stain, but… it doesn't fizz.

"[THIS REALLY ISN'T BLOOD… BUT THEN...]" Gaster says to himself… Something that isn't blood was coming from his wife's face?

"Papyrus looks between his mom and dad's faces quickly, still sickened by the fact that this is absolutely his fault. But he did hear his dad. That stuff isn't blood?... Why would it be? Skeletons can't bleed… But if it's not blood then what is it? And how did it get inside of his mother?

"Gaster tries to rub it off gently, but it doesn't lighten up or disappear at all. He shakes his head, giving up on cleaning it for now and decides to try and feed her.

"[VRINDA? SWEET HEART? CAN YOU OPEN YOUR MOUTH FOR ME AT ALL? MAYBE IF YOU EAT SOMETHING…]" Gaster says quietly to Vrinda. But she still doesn't move.

"[WHAT ABOUT SOME WATER? THAT'LL PROBABLY BE EASIER FOR YOU RIGHT?... VRINDA?]" He says quieter this time. Gaster lowers his head a bit more and kisses her forehead. And whispers to her.

"Papyrus can't watch. This is… This is a nightmare. This can't be real… Why won't she wake up?... How was her max HP damaged? What did that boy do to her?... Why did this have to happen?... Papyrus silently prays and begs for his mother to wake up.

"()

"Flameheart's is buzzing with people as always. Grillby appears in the back room where sit down's are typically held. He exits and heads to the counter as calmly as he can next to his father who's standing there pouring drinks.

"Well hey there, you're back a bit earlier than normal…. Uh, is everything okay? You don't look so good." Of course Flameheart noticed. No other monster would be able to see that a FLAME wasn't feeling well.

"Something has happened." Grillby says. Nobody is at the booths in front of them so he dares to speak out loud. Flameheart narrows his gaze and sends the drink he was making flying down the wooden counter top to a server who walks off.

"That doesn't sound good… Should we talk in private?" Flameheart says. Grillby nods. The two have developed a way to stay at the counter but still talk silently to each other. Grillby leans over and touches the tip of a short candle, setting it on fire. Flameheart reaches a little and touches it as well. The fire's blend to become a dark orange flame. The echoes of the others voice enter the others head and it's a fast and easy way to talk to each other in secret.

"Flameheart hears and he can't believe it… Vrinda, one of the strongest monsters around has been injured? And in such a way. How could that be? Who is the boy in the green outfit that Gaster mentioned?... This isn't good. They both agree that they'll both have to be very wary from now on…br /()br /An hour later, the small bell for the front door of Flameheart's rings.

"Sans walks in as he always does about this time. It's ten o clock now. Sans times it now so that he'll be there to talk to Grillby after his brother's training ends at 9. He sees a few people he recognizes and they wave to him. Sans waves back and sits down at the bar.

"Evening you two. How's it goin' around here?"

"The children have been rough housing at home again. This time they almost broke something…" Grillby responds. It's not often that GRILLBY responds first. It's usually Flameheart. So Sans raises a brow. So that punk that Sans has been looking for for a few days almost killed someone huh?

"Oh yeah? That's not good. Has anyone told them to behave?" Sans says. Grillby sets a glass down in a diamond shape. This sets off Sans' "not good" sensors in his bones… A deal went bad during this?

"Yes. But the parents can't seem to get them to settle down. Their mother got a paper cut." Grillby says… Sans just sits still… "The parents" obviously have to do with his parents, can't get the kids to "settle down" or stop what they're doing. The "mother" got a "paper cut"… His mom is hurt?... His MOM is HURT?

"Uh… Wow. Did you see how big the cut was?"

"Big enough to need a bandaid." Grillby says. Which means Sans needs to get home THIS SECOND.

"Wow that's… Uh… Hey look, I—" Sans says, ready to speak some more code.

"Go." Grillby says, not waiting for Sans to finish. This terrifies Sans. Language like this never happens. He never ever thought in his whole life he'd ever have to hear code for "Your mother is hurt and they need you at home right now."

"Yeah, later." Sans doesn't even pay today. It completely slips his mind. He gets up and calmly walks out… But the second he's out of the door he starts running. With a little bit of speed, he takes a small bounding step and teleports himself home.

"His shoes squeak on the hard wood floor when he lands. He landed in the front door which wasn't exactly what he was going for, but he ignores it.

"Guys?!" Sans says. He hears someone get up off of the love seat and walk to him. It's Papyrus.

"BROTHER!" He says.

"What's goin' on? Grillby told me that mom... mom got hurt?" Sans says. The look on Papyrus' face is enough to tell him that something is very wrong. Pap turns and Sans follows him into the living room. Sans sees his father in a date suit hunched over something. He sees his moms' legs on the couch. She's gently shaking now.

"Oh my god…" Sans says. He speed walks over and joins his father's side to look down at his mom. Gaster is holding her hand tightly as she lightly convulses, red liquid dripping from her eyes and nose.

"H-Holy shit—Dad, what the hell happened?"

"[I… I HONESTLY CAN'T TELL YOU RIGHT NOW. I HAVE SUCH LITTLE INFORMATION… BUT I HAVE A THEORY…]"

"Dad why the hell is she shaking like that? Why are you so calm? Something's wrong with her!" Sans says, looking around now to see if there's anything in his immediate area that can help. But he sees food and water on the end table above Vrinda's head. It hasn't been touched. She won't eat or drink then?...

"[SANS. LISTEN. A HUMAN BOY IN GREEN WOOL DID THIS. I THINK I MIGHT KNOW WHAT CAUSED THIS, BUT I CAN ONLY GUESS. THE BOY THREW A KNIFE AT YOUR MOTHER AND SHE CAUGHT IT BY THE HANDLE. AFTER SHE THREW IT BACK AT THE BOY, SHE LOOKED AT HER HAND LIKE IT HURT. WHICH WE ALL KNOW SHOULDN'T HAPPEN. I'M NOT SURE IF IT WAS THE KNIFE HANDLE ITSELF, OR IF THAT BOY PUT SOME SORT OF MAGIC IN IT THAT WOULD HURT YOUR MOTHER, BUT EITHER WAY, THAT KNIFE…. AFTER SHE GRABBED IT, 90 HP WAS PERMANENTLY REMOVED FROM HER MAX… WHATEVER IS IN HER RIGHT NOW MAD HER HALLUCINATE AND ATTACK ME. SHE THOUGHT I WAS SOMEONE ELSE. AND SHE SHOOK, MORE VIOLENTLY THAN THIS BEFORE PASSING OUT. YOUR MOTHER HASN'T BEEN ABLE TO OPEN HER MOUTH TO INGEST ANYTHING, AND SHE WON'T EVEN WAKE UP FOR ME… THIS SHAKING STARTED JUST FIFTEEN MINUTES AGO… THIS STUFF COMING OUT OF HER STARTED BACK UP AGAIN TOO AT THE SAME TIME…. AND THERE… THERE'S NOTHING I CAN DO TO HELP HER OTHER THAN STAY HERE. HER HP ISN'T DEPLETING AND IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE SHE'S FALLEN… SO I DON'T THINK SHE'LL DIE FROM THIS. BUT… I NEEDED YOU HERE. YOUR MOTHER AND YOUR BROTHER NEED YOU HERE.]"

"Sans stares at his shaking mother in horror. This is the last thing he could have thought would happen while he was away. Gaster doesn't THINK she'll die?... Sans shakes his head… No… He refuses to accept that she could die! Especially… after what he said. The last conversation they had was of him screaming at her. He didn't talk to her for a week or even show his face. Now his mother's life is in danger… This can't be happening….

"You said… some boy in green wool did this?..." Sans says, just barely controlling his voice. Gaster only nods /Sans grits his teeth.

"He's been following a teenage boy in green wool for a few days now. He suspected that they had something to do with all of this. Because on the fourth day of Sans' absence, he saw that same boy kill a stray cat for no reason other than that it was near him. And it's well known that animal killers tend to go further. Anyone showing such aggression could be linked to the murders. It was really just a hunch and something for Sans to look into while he was out. But now that boy has hurt his mom…

"He's dead then." Sans says in a gravelly voice. Papyrus looks at his shorter brother from beside him. He can see blue lining his white pupil.

"BROTHER… I KNOW YOU'RE MAD. BUT I THINK IT CAN WAIT UNTIL WE SEE SOME SORT OF IMPROVEMENT WITH MOTHER…" Papyrus says, putting a hand on Sans' shoulder. Sans' hands turn to fists and Papyrus worries that he'll break teeth the way he's tightening them, like a vice grip.

"Yeah… But that kid is dead… And you're gonna help me." Sans says. Papyrus nods once to his brother.

"Grillby was right. "It's very scary. But I'm sure that when the time comes, you'll be able to do it… I think that if YOU are the one that kills them, then they MUST have done something wrong. Trust your judgement." And Papyrus believes that the call he and his brother are making right now is the right one. If this boy can harm a monster like this, then he's sure that there's no way a prison will hold them… Killing them… Killing them is going to be the best way to protect his family and his /()br /It's a very long night. Vrinda stops and starts shaking throughout the night. The boys never once leave her side. The day comes and she still doesn't wake up. The second night comes and still nothing.

"But finally on the second day at 3:30 PM the white lights in Vrinda's sockets begin to light up again.

"She feels weird. There's a weird taste in her mouth. Her vision is blurry and it swims. But in front of her she sees a figure that looks like Gaster. It's comforting.

"..st..r…" is all she can manage. Her voice isn't working properly. The area around her neck and collar bone hurt, the equivalent of a sore throat for skeletons.

"[VRINDA. VRINDA MY ANGEL! YOU'RE AT HOME. I'VE GOT YOU.]" Gaster says, squeezing her hand tightly with both of his.

"Two other figures lean into Vrinda's vision. Papyrus… and Sans.

" … You're home." Vrinda croaks out.

"Yeah ma, I'm home. I'm so sorry about the stuff I said. I—I was being a punk and I—" Sans stammers. Vrinda gives him a small smile which makes him stop talking.

"It… was our… fault anyw.y. I'm… the one th.t's… sorry."

"[VRINDA, DO YOU THINK YOU CAN DRINK SOMETHING? EAT SOMETHING? HOW DO YOU FEEL?]" Gaster asks quickly before Sans can protest to his moms apology.

"Vrinda focuses hard, trying to make her vision better. She can make out that it's probably after noon… and she can tell that none of the boys have cooked anything for a long time. The house just smells like wood instead of food.

"Water… would be nice." She says.

"[GOOD GOOD, I'M GOING TO SIT YOU UP A LITTLE. DO YOU ACHE ANYWHERE?]" Gaster says while he very carefully tries to sit her up. She doesn't get far and Gaster holds her up with his arm and grabs the water with his freehand.

"Ache… Yeah. All of me… I feel like shit… Stiff…" It's rare that Vrinda will openly curse in front of Sans and Papyrus, so she MUST feel like shit.

"Gaster carefully puts the glass of water to her mouth and pours some down. Vrinda drinks the whole thing, nodding a tiny bit every time Gaster would lean the water away from her a little, silently asking for it back.

"That's better." She says. Her voice is a little clearer and now she sounds more like she's just waking up instead of swallowing sand paper and saw dust.

"So… what happened?" Vrinda asks. Finally her vision clears up mostly and she can see more detail in her family's face. But her sockets feel tired and itchy… if bones can itch.

"[WHAT… HAPPENED? I-… WELL… CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT YOU REMEMBER? ANYTHING IS FINE.]" Gaster says.

"Uh… let's see… We went on a date… the bath was nice… Uhm… We were going to see Muffet… Oh. I heard a child scream. We ran to see what was going on…" Vrinda's eyes get a bit wider, recalling more, faster and faster.

"The boy was getting ready to kill a little girl, but you blasted them. You teleported the child away and I pinned the boy with the knife to the wall…. He was a brat, clearly a member of the mafia…. Not willing to talk even when I threatened his life… What did he say…? I asked him who his targets were and who he worked for… Oh! Oh! He said that he worked for the Dreemurr family!" Vrinda blurts out, her voice still a little scratchy.

"Gaster leans back a little with wide eyes.

"[THE DREEMURR FAMILY? ARE YOU SURE THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HE SAID?]"

"Yes, I'm positive. I remember because I was just as surprised as you are. And… And then he told me that the only ones who were going to die was me and my family… and he asked how he was going to do that… He told me I was going to do it for him. I don't know what he meant, but right after that, he somehow ripped his sleeve away from the bones and he threw a knife at me. I caught it and it burned me… But I don't remember after that… I feel like it was bad, but I don't remember." Vrinda shakes her head a little.

"[YOU DON'T…. REMEMBER? AFTER GRABBING THE KNIFE, YOU CAN'T REMEMBER ANYTHING?]" Gaster says. Vrinda puts a hand weakly to her face and shakes her head.

"I feel like it's right there, what happened… but I can't recall anything. It's too fuzzy to make anything out… But I feel like I should ask if you're okay, Gaster." Vrinda says and looks up at Gaster. He kisses her hand that's still between his several times and puts her knuckles to his cheek.

"[I'M JUST FINE MY ANGEL… I'M GLAD YOU CAN'T REMEMBER ANYTHING AFTER THAT TO BE HONEST.]" Gaster says, closing his eyes. Good. She didn't suffer consciously.

"Uh oh… did I say or do something embarrassing?... How many people do I have to apologize to?" Vrinda says with a grimace. Gaster can't stop a laugh from coming out… or a small tear.

"[YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT. NO APOLOGIES EITHER… I'LL TELL YOU LATER.]" Vrinda spotted that little tear forming. She uses the hand in Gaster's grip to reach up. He loosens his grip just a bit to let her move and she wipes at his eye with her thumb… If what happened after she grabbed the knife made Gaster tear up with joy that she's okay, then it must have been pretty bad.

"I… I'm so sorry Gaster. I didn't mean to worry you… But please tell me exactly what happened." Vrinda says.

"Gaster explains again what happened, and the boys listen. Especially Sans. Gaster leaves nothing out and Sans can't believe what he's hearing… To hear Gaster recall it as if he were back in time experiencing it all over again is more terrifying than hearing it paraphrased.

"You're… kidding. All that? I was shaking?... BLEEDING? I…. I remember a little now. I thought… I thought that I hurt you and then you ran away… I thought I saw the boy rush me so I panicked and started attacking… but it was you after all Gaster. I think that's when I passed out. I felt so weak and tired very suddenly… It's still all hazy, but the feelings I got were pretty strong, so I remember those more than anything. I'm so sorry you had to see me that way Gaster… I don't understand what happened…"

"[IT'S OKAY VRINDA. YOU'RE OKAY. ALL I CARE ABOUT IS THAT YOU'RE OKAY… I… I WAS SO SCARED THAT-…]" Gaster says. He can't finish the sentence, only able to shake his head and squeeze Vrinda's hand tighter.

"Sans and Papyrus continue to watch. They look at each other with the same sad worried look. All of this because Vrinda TOUCHED a knife that the kid threw. All she did was hold it and it did this to her. Holding it took away 90 HP from her max. The boy they're going after is not someone to mess around with… They are bad news… How on earth are they going to take care of this issue?

"It takes another two hours until Vrinda is able to fully sit up without feeling much pain or stiffness. She finally eats and notices that her max HP is down. She stares at the numbers above her head and contemplates what they're going to do about this… Gaster finally leaves Vrinda's side to go get something to eat and Papyrus goes to change out of his training clothes and into his pajamas. But Sans stays and sits where Gaster was sitting, right beside Vrinda.

"Hey uh… Mom?" Sans says, holding his hands together tightly. Vrinda takes a drink and sets the glass down.

"Yes honey?" She says. Sans looks down at his legs and leans back in the chair.

"Uh… Now that you're completely conscious, I wanted to tell you that I was sorry… for that stuff that I said before I left. I was being a punk and I shouldn't have been so disrespectful to you and to dad. All you two have ever done is take care of me and shelter me and feed me, and I… I let my emotions get the better of me." Vrinda reaches over and takes Sans' hands in hers. Sans looks up at her and she leans in to kiss his forehead with a click.

"No Sans. You DESERVE to show your emotions. Your dad and I were wrong to train you the way we did… We didn't have to let you in on this life. At least not until you were much older… We trained you so harshly. And we did that because that's how WE were trained. We didn't think there WAS another way to do it. At the time we were young and we were so stupid. Raising a child was something we never imagined doing. But you came along and… your dad and I messed up. A lot." Vrinda says looking down at their boney hands. She rubs Sans' metacarpals with her thumb and appears to be thinking hard about her next words… Sans waits patiently.

"You were right that letting you in at your age was a mistake. I noticed how you started changing. You were still a child after all and the behavior that we were ENCOURAGING was hurting you. It was putting you in danger, it was dulling your childish nature, you were becoming more aggressive and instead of fixing the problem, we only trained you harder and… I felt so horrible that we'd done something like that to our own baby." Vrinda tightens her grip.

"And I still feel horrible that you were holding so many emotions inside and letting them eat at you because that's how WE trained you… And it's because of that-… because of me that you were so angry. My behavior towards you recently was awful. It didn't occur to me that by changing your brothers training, by treating him so differently than I did you, that you'd feel the way you said… What hurts most I think is that I know I can't change it. I can't fix what I've done. But sweet heart… You said you were broken and dirty. Tainted and ruined. None of that is true at ALL. And I'm SO SORRY that I made you feel that way."

"Sans stares at his mom… It's… it's nice to hear her say all of this. To admit that she was wrong. To take responsibility for it all. Part of him feels bad that his mom has to apologize to HIM, but other parts of him say that this is supposed to happen.

"Sans, I love you so much and I'm sorry that I… haven't shown it to you. Not properly. But… if you'll let me, I want to try and make some of it better. To heal parts that I've hurt. To show you that I mean it." Vrinda says. She looks up at her son now and the two make eye contact. Sans doesn't even move. He's… not even sure how to receive this. It feels familiar, like the warm blankets his mom and dad would wrap around him when he was cold in the winter, just like it is now.

"I… But… I feel so bad about this… I feel weird having you be sorry. I feel like I made you sad and it hurts knowing that I did that… And I'm really the one that's sorry. I said stuff like that to you and then I thought… I thought that you were going to die this whole time. I feel so bad that I almost made my last words to you so insulting…" Sans looks down and closes his eyes…

"Vrinda lets go of her son's hand and puts her own hands on his rounded face. Sans opens his eyes and looks up at her, unable to stop himself from feeling like a kid who was caught doing something. But his mom's face is soft and kind and she gives him a small smile. Vrinda shakes her head and kisses his head again.

"But… it didn't happen. So… I think this situation should be taken as a lesson for both of us. And you know who needs an apology more than I ever will?" Vrinda says. Sans nods a little.

"I know. Papyrus… We've sorta been talking through Grillby but… It's best to say it to him in person."

"Yes. Go to him now. I'm not going anywhere sweet heart." Vrinda brings Sans close and hugs him tightly. Warmly. Sans has had hugs from his mother for years, but this one feels good. Safe. Safe like a mother's hug instead of a pat on the back from your boss. Sans sinks into it and hugs Vrinda back just as tightly.

"I love you my sweet baby boy." Vrinda says. Sans nearly brings up the fact that he's 22 now, but he lets himself have the moment.

"I love you too mom."

"The two part and Vrinda sends Sans off to go talk to Papyrus. From behind the wall in the kitchen, Gaster listened in and just smiles, happy that his family has mended itself. Although part of him is sad that it took something like this to do it… Either way, maybe something like this won't ever happen again because of it.

"Sans gets to Papyrus' room and stands in the doorway. Pap is laying on his bed on his back with some silly pajamas on. Sans snickers.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who has stupid pajamas." Sans says. Papyrus sits up and he's just all smiles as usual.

"I'M GLAD YOU AND MOTHER MADE UP." Papyrus says. Sans wonders how he knew, but assumes SOME of Civetta's training in tapping and using magic to hear something from another room got through to him and he used it.

"Yeah… me too. It's gonna be weird though. Things were pretty cut and dry business with us. So to have her revert to…. Never mind. I came here to talk to YOU Pap." Sans says, entering his room and sits next to him on his bed.

"I gotta apologize to your face... I didn't mean to hurt you-"

"Long arms wrap around Sans and squish him tightly. Papyrus rests his head on top of Sans' skull.

"IT'S OKAY BROTHER, I FORGAVE YOU ALREADY. YOU WERE GOING THROUGH A LOT, I UNDERSTAND. AND NO MATTER WHAT YOU'LL ALWAYS BE MY BIG BROTHER WHO I'LL ALWAYS LOVE FOREVER AND EVER." Papyrus says happily, rubbing his cheek bone on Sans' head.

"Sans sighs a little and closes his eyes.

"You're too nice and forgiving bro... I'm still sorry about everything I said. I was being an asshole and not thinking about your feelings when I was saying that stuff... What a shitty big brother. And don't say 'It's okay' because it ain't."

"Papyrus partially contemplates his brother's words. He supposes he's right... but honestly Papyrus doesn't care. His family is back together.

"WELL FINE, I'LL JUST NOT SAY IT AND THINK IT INSTEAD. HOW'S THAT?" Pap says. Sans laughs a little and sighs.

"If it makes you happy I guess. And uh... I love you too Pap. You're my favorite baby brother." Sans says and pats his brothers back. Papyrus hugs him tighter and smiles widely.

"YOUR ONLY LITTLE BROTHER, JERK." The two chuckle a bit.

"Oh yeah, you know I'm gonna kick your ass during training now right?"

"I WOULDN'T HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY. I CAN'T GET AS GOOD AS YOU OTHERWISE. AND SOME DAY BROTHER, IT WILL BE ME KICKING YOUR BUTT."

"Yeah right."

"() br /The rest of the night is mostly calm. Gaster still doesn't sleep, watching Vrinda closely and making sure she didn't start shaking again or something. Vrinda wakes up a couple times in the night with nightmares. She refuses to tell Gaster what they're about… and then right after words, she gets that red not blood dripping from her nose. Gaster panics, but Vrinda shakes her hand and insist that she feels alright. She's very very tired though. It's like it sucks her energy out… but she cuddles up to Gaster finally and sleeps for the rest of the night, no nightmares or bleeding.

"()

"In the morning, the two go to the secret room and Vrinda finally tells the flame family and Civetta that she's alright. Civetta is pretty worried and angry that she wasn't there sooner. She'll be back from her mission in the next state over in a day or so.

"()

"There doesn't seem to be a way to get Vrinda's max Hp back up. Food and even sleeping don't fix it... Vrinda tells her family to give up. It's fine. She's alive and she still has most of her hp so it's not a big deal to get it back up. But the boys don't give up obviously.

"()

"The murders have stopped for now. Sans continues to walk the town and search for clues about that kid. He was following them and tracking them when he left after the argument at the hangar, but now finding this kid… It's personal and he wants that kid dead.

"Papyrus is busy being trained to shoot targets so he couldn't go with his brother to investigate. It's really irritating that he can't go out and help Sans, but he knows that he can only help if he's strong enough, which right now he is not. Sans tells him it's okay, he'll get there. But for now Sans is on his own.

"His parents were going to talk to Muffet, so he thinks he should do the same. He comes up to a cute purple wooden building that says simply "Muffet's Bakery" on the front in a creepy font. Sans wonders what sort of skeleton would have the name of that font.

"Sans goes inside and the whole dang place is a shade of purple or red. There are quite a lot of customers in the store. "Good" Sans thinks. "Better to blend in that way."

"He gets in line and luckily it moves quickly. Sans takes a look around at everyone and can't feel any malicious emotions coming from them. So that's good.

"Sans gets to the front. At the counter is a very slim petite spider monster girl. Six arms and hands move around frantically to get work done. With one hand she writes orders down, with another she works the till. A third and fourth hand ices specially requested doughnuts two at time. The fifth hand boxes up the order and the sixth one cleans any mess and helps whichever hands needs the most help at the time. Sometimes it even pours tea if it's ordered.

"While to humans this is a little unsettling, what creeps them out most normally are Muffet's many narrow red eyes. They look in all directions at everything, blinking in patterns. Fangs poke out from under black and maroon lips. The voice that comes out is equally creepy to humans, but rather cute and charming to monsters.

"Hello Sssans! I haven't ssseen you in a while. I wasss worried." She hisses out in a strange voice. Sans already knows that she knows what happened. Muffet knows pretty much everything there is... But her information costs quite a bit... So the Gaster family don't use her services often. Well, aside from her divine pastries and confections that is. They are to DIE for. Literally sometimes.

"Yeah well... I'm here for the usual." Sans says, putting down a one thousand dollar bill. Muffet eyes it greedily and puts it in her till with a fangy smile.

"Right away! Thank you for your patronage.~" Muffet says with a giggle. She gets four specific doughnuts from the window selection into a box and inside the box is a live spider that she put in discreetly.

"Have a nicccce day. Come back more often would you?" Muffet says. She smiles cutely and waves with all six hands.

"Count on it. Thanks Muffet." Sans waves and walks out.

"It's still snowy out and it'll likely be this way until March. Sans is similar to his mom in that the cold weather makes him tired. He yawns and honestly just wants to go home and wrap himself in a warm blanket that's recently been removed from the dryer.

"When he's out of sight of anyone on the street, he teleports to the hangar and yawns again.

"Break time guys!" Sans calls lazily.

"One sec!" Vrinda calls from the shooting range. She's got a strange face on that Sans recognizes as a grudge being held. And he knows why. The target….

"Papyrus is on his stomach with his favorite rifle aiming at a target across the hangar. He shoots but misses completely… Papyrus sighs and rests his skull on the handle of the gun.

"Papyrus, can you at least hit the targets hand? If they have a gun or a knife, you can shoot it out of their hand and injure them a little so they can't attack very well, but also they don't die. Can't you do that?" Vrinda says with slight irritation. Papyrus knows exactly how to shoot that gun, but he can't bring himself to kill anyone. Which isn't good for his two years in training. He should already have killed fifty people by now.

"[YOU CAN'T EAT UNTIL YOU CAN AT LEAST DO THAT. ALTHOUGH I'D FEEL EVEN BETTER IF YOU SHOT ONE OF THEIR LEGS OUT PAPYRUS. THAT WAY THEY CAN'T ESCAPE IF WE NEED TO INTERROGATE THEM.]" Gaster says. He's sitting on a folding metal chair looking bored. Sans thinks that Papyrus is probably wearing their patience thin...

"Hurry it up Pap, I got your favorite doughnut and it's still warm. Blow their knee caps off and get it over with." Sans summons a chair and sits.

"I'LL TRY..." Papyrus is only slightly motivated by the presence of food... He aims and looks at the knees off the human target in front of him. With a gulp, he puts his finger on the trigger... But if he shoots their legs out from under them it'll hurt a lot. They'll never be able to walk ever again... How can he feel justified doing this?

"[PAPYRUS, THIS TARGET IS A SERIAL MURDERER AND KIDNAPPER. HE STOLE BABIES FROM THEIR CRIBS AND STROLLERS AND THEN KIDNAPPED THEIR PARENTS TO MAKE THEM WATCH AS HE DISMEMBERED THEIR BABIES ALIVE. HE THEN SET THE PARENTS ON FIRE UNTIL THEY WERE BURNED TO DEATH... RIGHT NOW HE'S ON HIS WAY TO DO IT AGAIN. THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN STOP HIM IS BY SHOOTING HIS LEGS OR BLOWING HIS BRAINS OUT. PICK ONE.]" Gaster says.

"Barely a second after that sentence, the center of the target's chest is blown out with a bullet. The family looks at Papyrus. He doesn't seem reluctant anymore. Sans can't stop a grin. His brother finally pulled the trigger and hit a target. A kill shot.

"Hey bro, why'd you decide to kill that guy?" Sans asks, wondering how his brother will react.

"DAD SAID HE WAS ON HIS WAY TO... DO THAT STUFF AGAIN. I COULDN'T LET HIM..." Papyrus says. He sits up and looks at the wooden target, broken into bits.

"[THAT'S RIGHT PAPYRUS. FOR THE GOOD OF EVERYONE, PEOPLE LIKE HIM HAVE TO DIE. IT'S SAD THAT IT HAS TO BE THAT WAY, BUT LIFE ISN'T FAIR SOMETIMES.]" Gaster says. He stands up and walks over to his son who gets up off the ground.

"[GOOD WORK. YOU'VE SAVED HUNDREDS OF LIVES BY SHOOTING HIM.]"

"IS... IS THAT MAN REAL?" Papyrus asks.

"He was." Vrinda says now. She looks pleased.

"WAS?... WHAT HAPPENED?"

"That man... Your father and I went on a date and left Sans with nanny like a couple of fools... A man busted into the house and killed the sitter. He set the house on fire and he grabbed your then toddler brother. That man was going to murder Sans when he was just a year old..." Vrinda says with an old sounding hatred. Papyrus looks over at Sans quickly. The older shorter brother sits with his legs folded and hands in his pockets. He waves a little. Pap looks back to his parents and sees Gaster starting at Vrinda, watching how she reacts to this after all these years.

"WHAT... DID YOU DO?"

"I teleported for the first time inside the house, grabbed Sans from him and then I crushed that man's skull with my bare hand. Nobody touches my babies and lives to repeat the mistake." Vrinda makes a tiny smile. Papyrus can't believe it... The man who dismembered babies in front of their parents before setting them all on fire... That man had his big brother in his grasp. Sans was next. And his parents too. But his mom killed him to save her child. And she unknowingly saved a bunch of other people by getting rid of him too... Papyrus might not have had a bother. He might not have even been born if his parents weren't trained to fight… Most people in the world aren't trained to fight and protect themselves… Someone has to save them. Even if it means becoming a bad guy yourself.

"I UNDERSTAND. ARE... ARE ALL OF THESE TARGETS BAD GUYS?" Papyrus says and looks at the other wooden targets.

"[NO. SOME ARE GOOD INNOCENT PEOPLE. YOU HAVE TO USE YOUR INFORMATION GATHERING SKILLS TO FIGURE OUT WHICH OF THESE PEOPLE ARE BAD. AND WHICH ONES DESERVE WHAT SEVERITY OF GUNSHOT WOUND.]" Gaster says. Papyrus slumps a little... What if he makes a mistake?... He guesses that's part of his training: To figure out who the bad guys and good guys are and not kill the wrong one. Gaster puts a hand on His shoulder.

"[BUT THIS WAS A BIG STEP FOR YOU SON. THAT WAS A GREAT CHEST SHOT. SO I SAY WE TAKE A BREAK NOW AND SEE WHAT MUFFET HAS TO SAY.]" Gaster walks over to Sans and takes Vrinda's hand along the way. She holds his hand tightly. The three of them go to Sans and summon a table. Sans puts the box of doughnuts on it and opens it up.

"OH, YOU DID GET MY FAVORITE! YOU WEREN'T LYING TO MOTIVATE ME! THANK YOU SANS!" Papyrus says loudly, happily taking his delicious plain glazed doughnut.

"Sure thing bro. And mom, dad, I got your favorites too." Sans says, pushing the box towards them a little. Vrinda picks out a stuffed glazed doughnut with lemon filling. It gives her a nice zing when she eats it, even though skeletons don't really have tongues…. Unless they want one. Gaster picks up a cherry filled maple bar and eats is as happily as a child would.

"[I HAVEN'T EATEN ONE OF MUFFETS CMB'S IN FOREVER. I MISSED THEM.]" Gaster says. Sans chuckles and grabs out his doughnut. It's got a rather large black spider on it.

"Well I thought I'd get our usual stuff while I was there getting information." Sans brings the donut to his face and looks at the spider.

"UHM… SANS, THERE IS A GIANT SPIDER ON THAT…" Papyrus says, leaning away in disgust.

"I know…. Oh, we never told Papyrus about Muffet did we?" Sans says. Vrinda and Gaster look at each other and make a face that tells the boys "woops."

"Well that's fine. We'll just tell him now then. Pap, Muffet is a neutral party in this city who gives out information to anyone who can pay enough to get it. She's a greedy spider monster and holds no animosity or trust towards any family. We're a regular there so she gives us a LITTLE more information mostly because it has to do with her and we own this city. It's to her benefit to help us out. Anyway, Muffet doesn't just TELL you what she knows. No no, she's gotta be all creepy and weird about it…." Sans says. He looks at the spider and sighs.

"We get information from these spiders. And the only way they'll talk to us… is if we let them chill out in our bodies for a little. So watch and learn little brother." Sans puts his doughnut down and lets the spider crawl up his hand, onto his arm and then stops at his neck. Sans holds his hands out and Gaster and Vrinda take each other's hands and Gaster takes Sans' hand. Papyrus stares at them confused…. But in the end he just goes with it. He takes Sans' hand in his left, and Vrinda's hand in his right then watches to see what sort of madness will unfold now….

"Alright little buddy, do your thing." Sans says to the spider. The fat spider crawls up Sans' neck and into his skull. Papyrus watches in horror as he listens to the small scratching sounds the spider makes inside of his brother's skull. Sans shivers and winces, probably more grossed out than in pain. He grips Papyrus' and Gaster's hands tightly. Then he activates his magic and the color of his eye changes from blue to a bright purple. Muffet's magic.

"Papyrus is only able to wonder what the hell was going on for a second until his vision goes black. It takes several seconds for anything to appear. But finally an image appears. It feels like watching a movie in a theater.

"The picture shows four shadowy figures… huddled together at a table in a cement room. There's nothing in the room but the four monsters surrounding a round table. One of the monsters is huge and has large horns, the slightly smaller one has smaller horns. The smallest of the animal looking monsters has fluffy black hair and about medium sized horn. A boy…. Goat monster. They're all goat monsters. All but one. A young boy of about seventeen with short chocolate brown hair and dark grey pants. Papyrus can hear his mother beside him gasp. This is just like a theater. He can hear his family but he can't see them at all.

"The human boy stands up and ruffle the young goat boy's hair and walk off carrying a dark green wool coat and hat…

"The scene fades to black… and then reappears as a snowy alley way. A young blond girl in rags for clothes is running away from something, or someone. She slips in the snow and looks at her pursuer quickly. The boy TELEPORTS close to the girl and she screams. He says something to her and the girl screams for her brother. She begs her brother to help her as the boy in green wool takes out a large knife and is ready to stab her. A giant skull sends a blast at the boy and knocks him against the wall. Gaster appears and teleports away. The whole conversation between him and Vrinda plays through… Vrinda catches the knife and for a split second the knife turns red.

"Wait… I don't remember that." Vrinda says quietly.

"[GO BACK LITTLE ONE. CAN YOU STOP IT WHEN I TELL YOU TO?]" Gaster says. To Papyrus, it sounds like Gaster is in a row ahead of him in this not theater. The scene slowly rewinds until Gaster says to stop. The image is of Vrinda holding the knife and the blade is red….

"Why on earth is it red? I never saw that at all. It must have been a split second…" Vrinda says. The video continues as Vrinda throws the knife back. Gaster appears suddenly from around the corner. And seemingly out of nowhere, Vrinda calls the boy Gaster's name and lets him go. The boy rushes off, but Gaster rushes to Vrinda seeing that something is wrong. But she fights him, telling him to get away, but Gaster begs her to see him. The scene plays horribly in front of Papyrus' eyes, watching his mother panicking and shaking and bleeding until she finally falls down in his father's arms. Gaster shouts and looks around in terror before teleporting….

"The screen fades to black… Muffet's voice comes through.

"Hello everyone. I can hear your questions. But even I don't know precisely what the answer is. What I can tell you…. Is that this family is the Dreemurr Family from the west. They've conquered many cities, towns, even entire states. But you knew that… That human boy… He concerns me. His strength is like nothing I've seen before. And yet… His family is even stronger still." Muffet says.

"The screen finally shows a very well-lit picture of the family. A spider stared at it for a long time to get this image. The tallest one is a bulky muscly strong goat man with huge horns, white fur, terrifying yellow and red eyes and black hair like a lion's mane surrounding his face, fangs that have to be four inches out of his mouth. Some might say he looks more like a lion and less like a goat… Beside him is clearly his wife, white fur and the same yellow and red eyes. She's got smaller horns but they're still scary. The woman has a crazed look in her eyes… In front of the man and woman is a monster that has to be their son. A young goat boy about 15 or 16 with black hair and growing horns that look just like the man's. His grin looks mischievous and childish. And finally next to him is the human boy with a green and yellow stripped shirt on. His smile looks like he's trying to be charming, but instead he just looks eerie.

"Asgore is the father, the boss. Toriel is his wife, the underboss. Asriel is their biological son and he's only recently been inducted. That human boy is named Chara. Not much is known about him…. Other than that the Dreemurr family saved Chara when he was a very young child. Chara seems have been abandoned for some reason. And somehow the Dreemurr family found him and adopted him into their family. Chara has a very interesting power as you all saw when Vrinda grabbed a hold of that knife. It turned red. That was Chara's magic. Red magic like that is extremely rare. It's only 2% of the entire human population… As we all know, humans have something called 'Determination.' It's what makes humans so strong compared to monsters. And humans with red magic… well, they can either be souls of absolute purity…or they can be the utmost corrupt thing you can imagine. Chara's 'Determination' to kill is so strong that when a monster comes into contact with it, it floods their systems. And Chara wanted to kill Vrinda badly that day. So much so that even grabbing that knife took away some of her max health. That's what caused her to shake and pass out and appear to bleed. 90 is a significant amount of HP to have taken so suddenly, even when it's as high as yours is Vrinda." Muffet says. Everyone is mostly just surprised that Muffet chose to speak to them at ALL instead of letting the spider do its usual work by showing them images and whispering things to them.

"[WAIT, MUFFET, I UNDERSTAND A LITTLE BIT NOW, BUT VRINDA WASN'T ACTUALLY BLEEDING. IT WASN'T BLOOD… DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT IS?]" Gaster says hastily.

"I already told you. It was Chara's determination. Human determination and Monsters don't mix. They're like water and oil. Vrinda's body couldn't handle it so it leaked out of her until it was expelled. Vrinda dearie, tell me more about what you went through." Muffet says. Vrinda explains quickly about what she thought she saw and how she had nightmares.

"Interesting… So Chara's magic can cause convulsions, hallucinations, and nightmares… Well I would suggest that you avoid this boy and his family at all costs. But I know that you plan on getting rid of the human at least." Muffet says.

"[WE HAVE TO. THEY'RE KILLING PEOPLE LEFT AND RIGHT. THIS IS /OUR/ CITY AND WE /WILL/ PROTECT EVERYONE WE CAN.]" Gaster says sternly.

"I see… Well then I'll also give you this information… The Dreemurr family is collecting strong human souls. They have five right now. I don't know how many they're trying to get or why EXACTLY they're trying to obtain them… but I have an idea."

"Wait Muffet, you think they're trying to… become stronger by harvesting and absorbing souls?" Vrinda says.

"I do think that. So, while I do not pick sides, I'd advise you to be careful if you don't want to die… Anyway, there are more images that I think you'll find interesting… I have to go now, but please come for my services again! I may have something new for you by the time you return!~" Muffet says. Her voice disappears and the theater screen returns with a picture of Grillby's. Walking by it is Asriel, with a navy blue suit and hat on.

"Look at that punk casing Grillby's." Sans says.

"[WELL THAT CERTAINLY CAN'T BE GOOD. IF THE DREEMURR'S FIND ANYONE THAT'S CONNECTED TO US, THEY MAY TRY TO GO AFTER THEM AND GET THEM ON THEIR SIDE… BUT IF SOMEONE FROM OUR SIDE REFUSES, I'M SURE THEY'LL RESORT TO VIOLENCE…]" Gaster says. Papyrus has no idea who these people are or why they're doing this... but he doesn't say anything. And of course, Sans, without even seeing his face or hearing his voice knows that his baby brother needs his help here.

"Pap, we've known about these Dreemurr's for some years now, but the reason this is all so strange to us is like Muffet said. They dominate the middle of the country to the west of us pretty much. They've always started over there. They've never made a move... And now they're trying to get in on the east coast. And our city. Them coming over here is not a good sign. They'll band together with the other mob families that don't like us and try to strong arm us out of here or worse…" Sans says. Papyrus nods a little, but remembers that none of his family can see him just like he can't see them.

"The screen changes again and it shows Asriel sitting in a patch of grass at the park that's a mile to the west of the Gaster family home. He actually looks peaceful. If you didn't know better, you'd think this kid was actually a nice boy, relaxing on a day off from school. Papyrus can't help but think he's nice. As if hidden under the scary family shadow, he's actually kind hearted.

"A butterfly lands on Asriel's knee and the goat boy stares at it... Everyone seems to be waiting for him to crush it, or tear its wings off, but he doesn't do anything. He just stares and lets it sit for as long as it likes. But something small hits the butterfly. A pebble. Asriel looks shocked and looks in the direction that the object came from.

"Chara! Why'd you do that?!" Asriel says with quite the upset face on. Chara walks up in summer clothes... Papyrus notices that there's no snow. This was recorded earlier in the year. They were here all this time already? How did nobody hear about it?

"It was going to suck your blood, don't you know anything?" Chara says with a snicker.

"It was a butterfly Chara, they can't suck your blood. You killed a perfectly pretty butterfly for no reason." Asriel says. Chara actually lowers his head and scratches it.

"Gee Asriel, sorry. I didn't think you'd actually get upset over a butterfly. There's millions of them... How's this, I'll buy you an ice cream and not kill any more butterflies from now on. Will that make you feel better?" Chara says.

"Papyrus watches in slight amazement... The boy who could have killed his mother and who has killed many people already... he's a real person. And he has a relationship with his brother. A weird one it looks like, but... it just makes Chara more real, more human. Relatable to Papyrus...

"I guess so. But you'd better make it a double scoop." Asriel says. The two smile and Chara helps Asriel up on his feet.

"Double scoop it is then, cry baby."

"Triple scoop now." Asriel says. Chara gives him a small push.

"Alright, don't push it twerp."

"The screen goes black and reappears for the final time on a video of Asgore and Toriel whispering in a restaurant. Most of what they're saying can't be heard... Toriel's voice comes through first, a lower register female voice.

"... b...e...'re...them...sou-...?"

"Asgore's deep baritone voice comes next. He's a bit easier to hear.

"No...'s...clear to them that...get rid of... But then... Gaster...if they don't listen..."

"The Gaster family all tense up a little... This conversation is not sounding good... But it only lasts for that long. Because the screen is sucked away and so is the darkness.

"Papyrus is sitting back in the warehouse, still holding hands with his family in a circle. They all let each other go and Sans shivers when the spider crawls out of his eye socket.

"Eugh... Thanks tiny. I'll send you back to Muffet." Sans says. He picks off a tiny bit of his doughnut and gives it to the spider who seems very happy to receive a treat. It takes the piece and walks in circles around Sans' hand in silent thanks. Sans laughs a little and then sends it away with his light blue magic.

"Papyrus looks from his weirdly carefree brother over to his parents who are looking very contemplative.

"MOTHER, FATHER, COULD EITHER OF YOU HEAR WHAT THOSE TWO WERE SAYING?... IT DIDN'T SOUND GOOD." Pap says. Gaster nods his head.

"[IT WASN'T. AT ALL... THOSE TWO ARE VERY VERY STRONG... AND IF THEY'RE COMING OVER HERE, IT MEANS WE HAVE SOMETHING THAT THEY WANT. IF THEY'RE COLLECTING HUMAN SOULS, THEN WE MUST HAVE A COUPLE AROUND HERE...]" Gaster says thumbing at the crack on his left eye.

"WELL... WE CAN'T LET THEM DO THAT. THEY CAN'T HAVE THE SOULS OF OUR PEOPLE! YOU SAID THAT THEY WANT TO BECOME SUPER STRONG OR SOMETHING WITH ALL THE SOULS THEY'RE TAKING? WE CAN'T SIT BACK AND LET THEM GET AWAY WITH THAT! EVEN IF THEY ARE STRONG!" Papyrus says. Sans smiles a little at his brother.

"That's the spirit Pap. Mom, dad?" Sans says looking at them. But... they don't look so confident.

"Uh, guys?" Sans says again.

"Gaster and Vrinda stare at each other for a while...

"[I AGREE... BUT WE HAVE TO THINK THIS THROUGH. YOU BOYS HAVE NEVER DEALT WITH THIS FAMILY LIKE WE HAVE.]" Gaster says. Papyrus looks shocked at his brother. Sans has never dealt with them? He thought his brother knew everything, has done everything, met everyone important. But even HE is inexperience in this… Papyrus knows he should probably be worried about that, but it only makes him excited to experience something new with his brother.

"[I WONDER IF WE COULD CAPTURE CHARA... JUST HOLD HIM UNTIL SOME SORT OF COMPROMISE CAN BE MADE.]"

"Gaster there's no way we could do that." Vrinda says. "Toriel would rip us. I know that as a mother if someone hurt my son, they wouldn't get away from me." Vrinda says.

"[BUT IF YOU HAVE TO REMAIN CALM IN ORDER TO SECURE THE SAFETY OF YOUR CHILD, YOU'D DO IT.]" Gaster says, raising a brow at her a little. Vrinda slumps a little.

"Yeah... But do you really think they'd care about that? They're crazy... While we're talking they'd have someone else try to bust Chara out, and then when they have him, they'd kill us."

"Papyrus can't believe that his parents sound so worried about these people... They're usually so confident in their strength... VRINDA IS confident in her strength. But now she's hedging. What's going on?

"ARE THESE DREEMURR'S REALLY SO STRONG?... IF THEY'RE SO POWERFUL THEN WHY DO YOU WANT TO STAND UP TO THEM AT ALL? WHY NOT JUST LET THEM HAVE THE CITY?" Papyrus says. He mostly wants to see his parents' reactions.

"And as he expected, both parents look at him with a confused and hurt expression on their faces. "[WELL THAT CERTAINLY ISN'T GOING TO BE HAPPENING. WE CAN'T LET THEM HAVE OUR CITY, WE'VE WORKED TOO HARD TO JUST HAND IT OVER. AND WE CAN'T LET THAT BRAT KEEP KILLING OUR PEOPLE.]"

"That's right," Vrinda says with a nod. "If they get too many human souls then they'll become an unstoppable being! Or MULTIPLE unstoppable beings!"

"Sans watches this entire exchange. It's interesting to see how his brother is working. It kinda makes him proud.

"THEN PERHAPS INSTEAD OF CAPTURING ANYONE, WE SIMPLY TELL THE DREEMURR'S THAT WE'D LIKE TO TALK. I'M SURE THEY'RE NOT COMPLETELY UNREASONABLE MONSTERS. I KNOW CHARA SAID THAT HE WAS TOLD TO KILL PEOPLE WITH STRONG SOULS BY THEM, BUT MAYBE-"

"If they don't take souls from us here, then they'll take them from elsewhere... Sweetie, it's great to see you want to try and compromise with them before attacking, and that you want to help... but this family... They're not just any monsters." Vrinda says.

"[THEY'RE BOSS MONSTERS.]" Gaster says. Papyrus's eyes widen. Boss monsters are pretty rare... They're the strongest monsters there are. Higher HP, attack, defense, everything!... Even Gaster isn't a boss monster and his stats are almost twice as high as Vrinda's are.

"We actually used to be allies with them... When we first started all of this, you two weren't even born yet. Our boss set us up to partner with them for a mission…. But they were weird the whole time. They were…. Unusually into killing our targets. They liked it. And I remember that even back then they were fascinated by souls. I wonder if they experimented or something with souls and now they know what sort of powers they hold…" Vrinda says.

"UHM… WHY DID YOU /STOP/ BEING ALLIES, MOTHER?" Papyrus asks. Vrinda looks over at Gaster who appears calm and not at all bothered.

"They were traitors working for another family. And they made the cracks on your dad's face longer and larger than they originally were. Asgore slammed his stupid hulking fist down on your dad's head when were still in training, making the top crack larger. And when he hit the ground, the bottom crack got longer too." Vrinda reaches over and puts her hand on Gaster's face, thumbing at the left eye's crack.

"My poor sweet heart was trying to help them with his blasters, but Asgore just attacked him outright and gave away our position. We both had to run for our lives, but Gaster was unconscious. And I didn't know how to teleport yet." Vrinda says with a small sigh.

"Sans and Papyrus have never heard this story before… So this family hurt their dad…. That's enough information to know that they should hate these people.

"So…. How did you two escape?" Sans says.

"[YOUR MOTHER CARRIED MY USELESS BEHIND ON HER BACK UNTIL WE MADE IT SAFELY BACK HOME SO WE COULD TELL OUR BOSS, SALVATORE MARANZANO. THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THAT, MY ANGEL.]" Gaster says, leaning in to give Vrinda a kiss on her head with a click. Vrinda smiles and leans up, giving the crack on her husband's face a quick clacking kiss.

"I'd do it over one million times honey."

"Guys." Sans says with an unamused look on his face. Papyrus elbows Sans, miffed that his brother interrupted their parents being sweet. They hadn't made it to "gross" status yet!

"A-ah, sorry. Right." Vrinda needlessly clears her throat and leans forward at the table.

"[THE POINT WE WERE GETTING TO WAS THAT THESE DREEMURR'S DON'T TALK. THEY ACT. AND THAT'S IT. THAT MEANS WE HAVE TO ACT NOW. THEY'VE ALREADY MADE THE FIRST MOVE BY KILLING PEOPLE IN /OUR/ CITY. WE HAVE TO AT LEAST CAPTURE THAT CHARA PUNK. HE ALREADY KNOWS WHAT WE LOOK LIKE, SO…]" Gaster starts. But he looks at his sons staring eagerly at him and can't stop a bad feeling from coming up…. Why?...

"CAN WE HELP? OR RATHER, WHAT WILL BE DOING?" Papyrus says.

"[WELL… YOUR TRAINING JUST NOW WAS PROOF THAT YOU'RE ABLE TO DEAL A FINAL BLOW. BUT I THINK IF WE JUST WANT TO CAPTURE CHARA SO WE CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT HIM, WE'LL NEED YOU TO STOP HIM. YOU CAN TAKE OUT A FOOT IF THAT'S ALL YOU CAN DO. BUT NO MATTER WHAT, YOU MUST SHOOT HIM IN A WAY THAT WILL SLOW HIM DOWN. AND YOU CAN /NOT/ MISS PAPYRUS. NO MATTER WHAT.]" Gaster says, leaning forward and giving Papyrus a hard look. Pap can feel the weight of his gun already. The weight of responsibility. The weight of ruining someone's life to protect everyone else… He agreed to be in this business though. He WANTED it. So now he has to keep his end of the deal. Follow orders and do the right thing for the good of everyone, even if it hurts him… His brother's done it for years. His parents have done it. He can do it too.

Papyrus nods his head once.

"I PROMISE I WON'T HESITATE."

"[GOOD… THEN I HAVE A PLAN.]"


	9. Chapter 8

Another week goes by. Papyrus has been getting the absolute tar beaten out of him. Training seems to have gotten even more violent than usual. He thinks it's because this is what his parents expect of the Dreemurr family. But it only bothers him a little. It's not like he'll be doing much on the ground. In fact, he's pretty much avoiding the fight all together… Not of his own volition… but because he's the best sniper in the family.

Grillby and Flameheart aren't around so much anymore. Mostly because they're not needed at these stages. Civetta is present often though. She always has new gadgets here and there. They're all prototypes and it seems none of them work. Civetta's plumage goes down when that happens. But Papyrus just laughs and tells her to keep her beak up!

Papyrus learns to teleport some things to his hands. Pebbles. Then small rocks. A baseball. It's a bit of a strain when he's forced to move up to guns and knives. The most important things to teleport are his weapons of course. A small hand gun is a chore… But he does it so many times in just one day that he's able to teleport bigger and bigger guns and longer and heavier /On the seventh day, Papyrus can finally teleport his large heavy rifle to him. Gaster moves Papyrus further and further away from the guns and knives and of course it gets harder and harder. But Gaster pushes Papyrus hard and doesn't even let him sit down until he can do it. Teleporting takes up so much magic… He can't believe his parents and his brother can do it so often. Sans, every day with the four of them a hundred miles away from their home to the hangar, and his parents teleporting huge chunks of a fake city all the time… He HAS to do better. He MUST catch up with them!

But just before nine o clock on the seventh night, Papyrus gets to the end of the hangar and can teleport his rifle to his hands. Even exhausted, Papyrus is so happy and gives an excited yell. This teleporting business is getting easier. He's stretching his magic pretty thin, but it feels amazing when he succeeds at something he wasn't sure he'd ever be able to do.

Sans roots for him the whole time, telling him to focus and stop thinking so hard about where the gun is. "Just want it and picture it in your hands!" He'll yell. Gaster tells Papyrus that that's not always the case, but when he's in the middle of saying that, Papyrus gets whatever it is that he wants. He wonders if his sons just teleport things differently.

()

Vrinda continues to have nightmares every night. So she's exhausted during training. But at least she only gets ONE nose bleed from the Determination that was forced into her. Gaster worries for her constantly and it's becoming more stressful to think of the plan they all agreed on… He can't stop that bad feeling from returning all the time now.

()

Christmas is coming up soon, so there are trees with candles on them, popcorn garland wrapped around them and a star or an angel on top. Tinsel on most trees, even though it's a nightmare to clean up after the holiday. It's worth it to have such a sparkling tree.

Even the Gaster family partakes in this, although monsters usually call this holiday "Giftmas." Back in olden times, Monsters didn't know that humans had nearly the exact same traditions they did. So it was easy to merge the two holidays together, being nearly the same thing in the end.

Vrinda and Gaster hand make the wreaths and garland and even the ornaments for the tree that they buy already chopped. Papyrus and Sans decorate the house with the stuff their parents made and while it's a small home, it's filled with Giftmas joy.

When it's time to start baking treats for everyone, Vrinda shows all of her boys how exactly she makes the traditional family truffles her parents used to make for her. When she finishes freezing them, the boys eat and melt right along with the chocolate goo inside that hard shell. They're divine and Vrinda is showered in praise and love for her amazing treats. She loves the attention of course. But after that, she tells them all that THEY'LL have to make truffles too. To see if they were actually paying attention. Vrinda watches the three of them from a chair with the smuggest shit eating grin as they fail rather miserably… Well, except Sans. He does pretty well. Papyrus' look good but taste awful. And Gaster…. Gaster's well… They… they just became puddles somehow. Vrinda doesn't even want to know…

()

December 23rd 1950

The family is out to do a typical recon mission. They're not all together of course, no no. All four of them are in different locations. With help from Civetta, they've managed to time exactly when Chara would be walking around the safest part of town to quietly capture someone. Gaster is at the southernmost position, Vrinda in the east, Sans in the Northwest and Papyrus directly north on a roof top. Civetta is next to him, lying on her stomach. She's acting as his captain.

"[READY?"] Gaster says into his watch. The latest device from Civetta's personal spy shop.

"Yeah." Vrinda says just before Sans does.

"YES." Papyrus says.

"[ANY MINUTE NOW. AND PLEASE BE CAREFUL EVERYONE.]" Gaster says… He has a terrible feeling about this though… And he seriously wonders if he should call this whole thing off… But just as he lifts his watch to say it, he hears footsteps…. But he hears not one pair… but two.

From behind a dark red brick building, Chara steps out in his regular dark green wool coat and hat. He looks oddly pleased with himself. And next to him… Next to him walks Asriel holding a jar. A jar with a large glowing yellow heart. They both have a small bit of blood on their sleeves.

The two turn the corner and spot Gaster.

Neither party speaks to the other….

Chara throws their coat back and grabs a knife. Without a word of warning to Asriel, Chara darts forward. The boy can teleport. At least for very short distances.

Gaster lifts his hands and two large blasters appear from nothing and open their maws. Light charges and then fires at Chara. It's a direct hit….

But…

Chara seems only aggravated that he was hit. He continues to charge Gaster and swings at him with the knife.

"Beat it old man!" Chara shouts.

"[YOU KILLED THAT GIRL DIDN'T YOU?]" Gaster says as he jumps back and sends bones after him. Bones fly past Chara and head for Asriel. Chara blocks what he can with his knife until he looks back to Asriel, which Gaster can't believe. Is he stupid? Confident? Both?

"Asriel move!" Chara shouts to his brother. Asriel ducks and dodges the bones.

"Chara come on, run!" Asriel yells and runs away.

"WHAT?!" Chara half screams. He turns around to face Gaster and is hit with another blaster, harder this time. But still Chara refuses. He stands through the blast and swings his knife, red magic cutting through the beam.

"[W-WHAT?]" Gaster says to himself. The red magic cuts his blaster in half and it falls to the ground into dust. Gaster summons hundreds of bones, his purple eye glowing. He sends them all flying at Chara. But the boy runs away and somehow dodges most of them. He can't get away from a few though. He gets cuts on his legs and arms and even gets a bone that nearly scalps him, taking his hat with the sharp tip. The two boys run from Gaster.

"[VRINDA, THERE ARE TWO OF THEM. CHARA AND ASRIEL ARE BOTH HERE! THEY HAVE A HUMAN SOUL!]" Gaster says loudly into his watch. This was NOT in the plan. Civetta's been watching Chara for two weeks now and he's always taken this path alone… But it seems he recruited his brother to help kill that little blond girl and steal her soul… Asriel was NOT in the equation! Was this what his bad feeling was? He felt that the plan wouldn't go exactly as planned?

To the east Vrinda waits with hundreds of bones, both white and blue.

"TWO? And a soul?" Vrinda whispers to herself loudly…. No matter. She won't be caught off guard this time.

Two pairs of running footsteps come towards her and Vrinda readies her pointed bones in their direction.

Chara and Asriel skid into a back alley and hit the side of a wall. The two stare at her in shock. They're being cornered? Is that it?

"You again?!" Chara says with a glare. But Vrinda doesn't wait to talk. She just sends her barrage of bones flying. Asriel jumps in front this time and throws his hands up, tossing the jar to Chara behind him. Star shapes begin to fall from the sky and crash and stab into the concrete in front of them, blocking the bones and crushing them on impact.

"Wh—" Vrinda says. But she summons bigger bones that could fit a dinosaur's body and sends those flying too.

"Asriel!" Chara shouts. Vrinda can't believe he actually sounds worried. He's such a terrifying child that she assumed he really didn't have any feelings other than "kill."

A huge star, flashing in rainbow colors pops up out of nowhere and boomerangs around, slashing all of the huge bones but one. The final bone crashes through the first layer of stars and sends the boys flying backwards. They smash and roll along the snowy ground. The jar containing the human heart smashes into the ground. A soft yellow glow illuminates the entire ally way, floating upwards… It shakes and finally breaks apart into pieces. Bits of it fall and disintegrate before it hits the ground.

Chara gets up first and grabs Asriel by his suit shoulders.

"Asriel, get up HURRY! They're trying to surround us! We have to split up!"

"But the soul!"

"It's gone, come on! You go that way!" Chara says, yanking Asriel to his feet and points.

"What about you?" Asriel says with worry clear in his voice.

"You idiot, just GO!" Chara pushes him in the direction he ordered him to run in and then turns around to Vrinda.

"I thought a weak monster like you would have been killed after handling my knife. But here you are." Chara says with a low irritated voice.

"Hmph. I'm not as weak as you thought then. Don't underestimate monsters. And especially don't underestimate me!" Vrinda summons bones of all sizes and sends them soaring at Chara in different patterns. He gets cut up as he attempts to dodge and dash towards Vrinda. He's so fast…. Teleportation. At least a little.

"I think I estimated you just fine!" Chara yells as he gets right up to Vrinda, that scary pointed grin on his face. His eyes are narrow and red, glowing like a fire and leaving trails. Vrinda doesn't even have time to move and she can't believe that she's going to be injured again by this kid.

A blaster's huge skull rushes in and smashes Chara from the side hard. Hard enough to knock him off his feet and send him beaming into the cement wall of a building thirty feet away. Chara falls to the ground, bits of cement and rock dust covering him. Gaster rushes in with a furious glowing purple eye.

"Gaster!" Vrinda says happily. It was exactly according to plan, but close enough! Now the two of them are together, outnumbering Chara like they planned.

Chara sits up and looks at them. His health bar… his max is 99. The highest it can be for a human his age… But it's down to 50 now. He realizes this and stands up with some trouble and… sucks up his pride to run west.

"[PHEW… VRINDA ARE YOU OKAY?]" Gaster says, turning to Vrinda. She lets out a sigh of relief and nods.

"I'm alright. Thank you for saving me."

"[I HAD TO MAKE UP FOR LAST TIME MY ANGEL.]" Gaster takes Vrinda's hand, the one that was hurt by the knife handle, and kisses her palm.

"Alright Sans, they split up, but Chara is coming towards you. Papyrus, get ready too alright?"

"Got it mom." Sans says into his watch. So Asriel is here. And they split up. Sans isn't exactly sure what Asriel is like, but his main target is Chara anyway. He hopes that Asriel just runs home or something so that HE doesn't have to deal with him.

"YES MOTHER. I'M READY." Papyrus says. He's so nervous… He'll be shooting a real live person instead of a wooden target… But he promised that he'd do this. And the Great Papyrus does NOT break promises! Down below he can see Chara running down a very narrow ally. He pops out and sees Sans.

"How many of you damn freaks ARE there?!" Chara yells. Sans just chuckles and doesn't even take his hands out of his pockets to shrug.

"I dunno. But I think you're the only freak around here kid. Hey, just do us a favor and stop running. We aren't gonna hurt you if you just calm down and talk to us. Is that so much to ask?" Sans says. He really does want to give this kid a chance. He's a killer yeah, but information is more important than just flat out killing him. The point of this mission is to capture Chara, not kill him… Unless the need arises for some reason. That's what Papyrus is for. So Sans knows that he'll be alright. His brother is the best shot… But he just hopes that Pap can bring himself to shoot a human and actually kill them if it needs to be done.

"Get out of my way you smiley trash bag…" Chara says, holding his knife tightly…

"Sorry kid. Can't do that. Listen to me for a second. We don't have to do this. I bet there's actually a glimmer of a good person inside you. You can stop all of this right now if you just… I dunno… give up?" Sans says.

But Chara just gives him an irritated and bored look. He takes a few steps forward and then dashes. Sans is only mildly impressed by his speed.

From above, Papyrus watches. It's almost like a dance the two preform instead of an all-out life or death fight. It's graceful, it's pointed and Papyrus swears he can hear music.

"Focus Papyrus." Civetta says beside him. Papyrus nods and just keeps his eye on the scope.

Sans teleports everywhere. Vertically and horizontally in every direction. Chara swings and slashes at bones, slicing them into pieces.

"Come on kid, give it a rest already would ya?" Sans says.

"You think you're the only one with fancy magic, trash bag?" Chara says. He finally holds still and throws his knife in the air.

The knife turns red and multiplies until there are exactly one thousand red knives floating in the sky like a grid. Papyrus watches amazed. This isn't good. If the HANDLE could hurt his mother as bad as it did… then this will surely kill his brother.

"Heh. Wow. Pretty impressive kid." Papyrus wonders how Sans can be so calm in the face of death! Is this part of his training? Never show fear even when in the most terrifying circumstances?

"I wouldn't be so jovial you weirdo."

"We'll see what happens. Come at me punk. Show me what you're worth." Sans says with a sly grin, and a bored glare. Chara's eyes widen with anger. The knives start flying at Sans. They slash in midair, soaring at the skeleton in complicated patterns. But Sans dodged them all. As if he's done this a million time and it's muscle memory at this point.

"Why won't you just DIE ALREADY?!" Chara yells.

The knife movements become more erratic and less predictable. Sans actually begins to have trouble. The timing is off now and with a lack of rhythm it's a bit more difficult. But Sans continuously dodges and teleports out of the way. He summons bones now to meet the knives half way.

A knife nicks Sans' cheek a little.

Just that small notch on his cheek makes his vision go crazy. The world around him starts to move and wave. Everything around him turns an orange and yellow, the knives becoming pillars. His body feels hot like he's never felt before. No no, if he just closes his eyes, he can do this right? But his equilibrium is thrown off and he stumbles. He can't stand up straight. He looks as if the earth under his feet is shaking violently.

From the roof, Papyrus watches, wondering what the hell has happened. His brother is acting strange.

"Oh no." Civetta says. "He was cut!"

Papyrus gets Chara in his sights, but he disappears! Papyrus looks away to see where he is, and he's directly in front of his brother. He gets his eye back onto the scope and… everything happens in slow motion.

Vrinda and Gaster rush into the open space since the plan was to completely outnumber Chara and detain them. Surround them.

Asriel comes out from behind a different pathway and skids to a stop.

Sans sees Chara right in front of him and jumps back… But he's not fast enough, disoriented by the cut.

Chara uses all of his strength to slash up at Sans and cut him deeply in the chest.

"No!" Vrinda screams. Her voice echoes like a shrieking bell.

Red determination begins to seep onto San's blue suit. The lights in his eyes go out and red liquid bursts from between Sans' teeth, out his nose and out of his eyes.

His HP is instantly cut away.

Papyrus hears his mother's shriek and hears the terrible sound of blade ripping through ribs. Any music he thought he heard earlier stops… It's replaced by the echo of Grillby's words.

"I think that if YOU are the one that kills them, then they MUST have done something to deserve it."

The sights are right in the center of Chara's head.

Papyrus pulls the trigger.

He's never seen a head explode before now… But Chara's skull is blown to pieces. Blood, bone pieces and brain matter fly into the air.

Sans' body doesn't even have time to hit the ground before that bullet pierces through the other side of Chara's head.

All sound stops. Or if it kept going, none of it made sense to Papyrus. He thinks he hears Civetta chanting "oh my god" beside him. He thinks he hears his mom's heals clicking rapidly as she runs over to Sans with Gaster in slow motion. He thinks he hears Asriel screaming…

But none of it matters. Because all he can stare at is his brother's empty health bar and slowly falling form. Without thought, reality tears itself apart.

Suddenly he's at Sans' side, holding his arms out and catching him just before he falls backwards. His big brother falls limp in his arms, sockets devoid of life. Red determination spurts from his mouth and out of his eyes and nose like rivers. It's getting all over the both of them. It looks exactly like blood.

"S-SANS…" Papyrus can only manage to say in a whisper.

Vrinda and Gaster rush over and nearly slip trying to stop. Gaster kneels down and rubs Sans' skull. Vrinda falls to her knees and tries to give his face a few pats on the cheek.

"[SANS! SANS!]"

"Sans no no no no no!" Vrinda screams.

It's now that Sans begins to shake. It's small at first, but it becomes violent quickly.

"N-NO! BROTHER NO! S-SANS PLEASE!" Papyrus starts to beg between shaking words. Sans' shaking becomes so violent that all Papyrus can think to do is hold him tightly, as if his love will make it stop. But it doesn't. The more Sans shakes, the more red liquid bursts out of him. The more Papyrus is horrified that his brother will become dust in his arms.

Papyrus hears something else now. He dares to look away from his brother to see Asriel holding Chara's body up off the ground, blood getting all over him. Asriel's yellow and red eyes are huge and horrified, full of giant tears.

"Chara!" He screams. His brother's brains completely blown out and only the bottom half of his jaw is there, but just barely. Asriel begins to scream now. He screams in horror. Overwhelming, scarring, traumatic horror.

Papyrus can't bring himself to feel any pity though…

"Sans! Please baby try to listen to us! W-We have to leave, Gaster! Maybe we can save him!" Vrinda says in a terrified squeaking voice, holding her head.

"Chara…" Asriel says. Gaster looks over at the young goat boy. In his hand is a bright red pulsing soul. Chara's soul.

"I… I can save you this way can't I?... That way you'll never be dead… Never ever. I won't let you go." Asriel puts Chara's body down and cradles the soul. It gives the boys white fur an eerie red tint. With tears in his eyes, Asriel looks over at the Gaster family. Vrinda freaking out and trying to use healing magic on Sans somehow, Gaster staring at him in knowing horror, Sans shaking violently and becoming covered in red liquid and Papyrus, tears coming from his sockets and yelling at his brother to please stop shaking.

"Chara… I know you started this… But… You're the only one that ever understood me… I can't let go of you."

Asriel holds the soul close. It slowly drifts into his body.


	10. Chapter 9

Asriel's figure becomes a white silhouette, illuminating the empty building lot around them. The Gaster family watch with horror as Asriel floats up into the air and transforms. He gets larger and a new outfit starts to unfurl. His horns grow larger and finally a terrible echoing laugh rips through the air. The light disappears and floating there is... a God.

Asriel looks down at the family, huge and looming. Black rips come from his cheeks and his eyes are completely dark like the abyss. He can see all of their HP bars…

Gaster: HP 3550/3550.

Vrinda: HP 2410/2410.

Papyrus: 760/760.

Sans: 0/0…

The magic coming off of Asriel is so intense, the force rattles the skeleton's bones.

"No… No way… Gaster—" Vrinda starts.

"[YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE BOYS TO SAFETY VRINDA!]" Gaster shouts. He rushes in front of his family and huge magic skeleton hands with holes in them appear from nothing. Asriel swipes his hand down and destroys them both as if they were thin glass ornaments. The godlike monster raises his other hand to do the same to the Gaster's, but with a loud screech, Civetta flies down from the building her and Papyrus were on and dive-bombs Asriel. She lands on his head and starts ripping and tearing with all of her claws. She bites Asriel with her beak and bright green magic surrounds her.

"[CIVETTA! BE CAREFUL!]" Gaster yells. He summons bones and hands and blasters, sending everything flying at Asriel in unpredictable patterns. The hands grab the flailing monster and hold him so that the bones and blasters can slice him and burn him.

"Enough!" Asriel screams. With just a swing of his arms, the hands are destroyed and the bones disintegrate before touching him.

"You first!" He says, grabbing Civetta off of his head with his large claws. Civetta wriggles and screeches loudly.

"Gaster, quickly, run!" Civetta shouts to Gaster with a fierce look in her eyes.

Gaster knows what she's trying to do…

"[NO! THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER-]"

"Be quiet damn you and SAVE YOUR FAMILY!" Civetta screams. Bright green magic completely surrounds Civetta… From thin air, hundreds of huge and small chains alike appear. They wrap around Asriel's arms and torso tightly. Shackles clack around his wrists and legs, forcefully pulling him to the ground.

"GGRRRAAAHHH!" Asriel yells as he struggles.

Gaster looks back at his family and sees that Sans is now tensing up so hard that he looks like he might snap like a rubber band. Papyrus can't face this beast. And his wife… She looks at him with question. She doesn't want to leave Civetta either, but she also has to do something about Sans.

"[VRINDA, ONCE YOU GET THE BOYS TO SAFETY, GET EVERYONE AROUND HERE OUT OF THEIR BUILDINGS. EVACUATE EVERYONE YOU CAN!]" Gaster says, thrusting his hand at the group. Vrinda looks at him with wide eyes, begging him not to separate himself. But at the last second before she disappears, she looks at him with the promise that she'll do all she can. It's a relief for Gaster to see.

He turns around now to face this angel of death. Civetta still has him chained up, struggling in his huge hand. Gaster relaxes and takes a big breath. He slowly lifts his hands half way into the air closing his eyes. Purple magic surrounds his body and both of his hands. Multiple giant hands appear in the air. Five. Ten. Twenty. Fifty. When Gaster opens his eyes, one is glowing brighter than the other, but it still glows its best.

The hands charge Asriel. Some hands stab him in the back and break on contact just being near Asriel's magic, some wrap around Asriel's neck and some forcefully try to dig their way into him to reach his soul and crush it. Civetta tightens the chains and manages to get one wing and claw out of the furry grip.

Asriel screams and writhes, shaking the earth and breaking the concrete under him.

"Let gooo! Let go, it hurrrtss!" Asriel bellows. For a moment he still sounds like a kid… Gaster doesn't hesitate though. He's seen human children do terrible things, but he's still had to kill them just as he has to kill Asriel.

"[AN EYE FOR AN EYE, CHILD. YOUR BROTHER KILLED MY SON. MY OTHER SON KILLED YOUR BROTHER. I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU'RE VERY ANGRY…. BUT WE'RE TRYING TO GIVE YOU CHANCES! STOP STRUGGLING NOW!]"

"We're going to kill you dammit! We're going to kill EVERY HUMAN ON THIS PLANET! AND YOU'RE NOT GOING TO STOP US!" Asriel yells. With just a little effort, Asriel pushes himself up off of the ground, pulling the chains and breaking some of the smaller ones. Without the little extra help, the big chains break and Asriel stands. He battles the hands, floating swords appearing form nowhere. Parts of them flash and glow with rainbow colors, and when he swings, the blades leave a rainbow trail behind them. Asriel slashes at some of the hands and gets a few. But Gaster makes the hands float away and attack elsewhere, yanking at his wrists to get the blade free of his hand.

"[PLEASE STOP ASRIEL! I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO KILL YOU IF I DON'T HAVE TO!]" Gaster shouts.

"SHUT UP!" Asriel screams. He flails his body and breaks the hands that grab at him and cut him and pierce him. There are only three hands left. One darts into Asriel's eye and stabs the black orb. Asriel screams in agony and flails wildly, grabbing his eye.

"YOU ARE ALL DEAD!" Asriel looks at Civetta with his one good eye and finally lifts her into the air. He throws her down as hard as his godly body will allow…

Civetta tries to open her wings, but the force with which she's thrown is so strong that she can't even move her arms to save herself.

"[YOU WILL NOT KILL ANY MORE OF MY FAMILY!]" Gaster says. He looks at Civetta and in just a split second, just before she smashes into the ground which surely would have killed her, she disappears in purple magic. Gaster teleported her away and high into the sky somewhere else so she could catch herself and fly.

It's just Gaster and Asriel now.

"You… You… You just can't stop taking things away from us can you?" Asriel says. Gaster wonders why Asriel keeps referring to himself as "we" and "us." Is… Is Chara in there speaking as well? Is Chara's soul aware enough that he can still live in a way? Is that what Asriel was saying just before he took Chara's soul? "This way you can never die."

"You… You once saved me at some point you know. Part of me anyway." Asriel… Chara? Gaster stares in mild amazement. The kid whose head is blown off right now is speaking to him…

"A human… A horrible man killed my parents. And it was you that killed him for me. I was just a sapling at that point. But... I was saved again by the Dreemurr's. They showed me… mercy. I owe them everything. I owe them EVERYTHING." Chara's voice says, overpowering Asriel's now.

"So… even if you killed me… I can't let you kill Asriel too. Because it was him that found me. I won't… I WON'T LET YOU KILL HIM! US!" Chara says. Asriel's eyes turn from black and white to black and red now. A terrible toothy fangy grin nearly rips his face in half. Two huge red swords appear in his hands and he grabs the handles once they stop phasing into this world. He lifts both swords in the air and swings down violently down at Gaster.

Gaster teleports out of the way and behind him in the open space. It's much smaller now that a god is there… He watches this beast in awe. His magic is so strong…. Chara's determination and will to live is so strong.

The swords crash into the building that was behind where Gaster was standing and completely destroy it. Bricks go flying everywhere, loose snow blows away like a hurricane just landed. Gaster uses an arm to cover his sockets as the wind nearly crushes him against the back wall of where he teleported.

Asriel looks at the destruction for a second… and starts to laugh. He's figured it out. Why should he bother killing one monster when he can kill thousands of humans instead?

Without another word, Asriel begins to float away.

He has to kill them now. He has no choice. Gaster really wanted to give them a chance. To give Asriel a chance. But now the two are working together to destroy and kill everything and everyone. Gaster can't let this go any more. And his family. They need him right now!

With renewed determination, Gaster runs out of the space, leaving Chara's body to chase after Asriel.

()

Papyrus continues to hold onto his brother tightly. Vrinda brought them to the secret room in Flameheart's and left almost as quickly as she teleported them. With just a kiss she tells Papyrus she's sorry and teleports away.

Pap sits there for only a minute with his brother until he shouts for help.

"GRILLBY! FLAMEHEART!" He calls. He's not sure if this will ruin some secrecy or whatever, but he doesn't care. He needs help somehow!

Just as Papyrus is ready to call again, the door swings open to a confused Flameheart. But when he sees what's going on, the whites of his eyes grow huge.

"Grillby!" Flameheart says sternly before coming in. Grillby comes in right after him and closes the door, confused. But he sees Sans and Papyrus both covered in what look like blood and Sans with an empty health bar, his flame bursts in panic. An emotion like that… Papyrus wasn't sure Grillby could BE scared. But that's foolish. He's only a monster after all.

"What the hell has happened? Does this have something to do with the noises?" Flameheart says, kneeling next to Sans and Papyrus on the floor.

"W-WE WERE GOING TO CAPTURE THE HUMAN CHARA, BUT HE BROUGHT HIS BROTHER ASRIEL, AND WE TRIED TO CORNER THEM A-AND—BUT THEY SPLIT UP AND CHARA—CHARA AND SANS WERE FIGHTING BUT WE WERE JUST TRYING TO CAPTURE THEM—DETAIN THEM—THEY—I—I COULD HAVE…. I COULD HAVE KILLED THEM SOONER! TH-THIS IS M-MY FAULT! IF ONLY I'D PULLED THE TRIGGER FASTER THIS—THIS NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!" Papyrus nearly shouts in a panic.

"That human brat did this?" Flameheart says. Grillby steps forward looking as horrified as a flame can. He stares at the big zero that's in Sans' health bar.

"How… how isn't he dust yet?" Grillby asks.

"I have no idea… Oh my god…" Flameheart says and shakes his head. He's waiting for it. Any moment now, Sans will turn into dust. He just knows it.

"Did you kill them?" Grillby asks now. Papyrus looks over at him and doesn't move….

"Y…YES. I… I HAD TO." Papyrus says. He looks back down at his brother who's almost completely covered in the red liquid.

"M-MY DAD SAID THAT THIS STUFF WAS CALLED DETERMINATION. MY MOTHER HAD THIS STUFF COMING OUT OF HER TOO. BUT SHE—SHE'S FINE! SANS WILL BE FINE TOO WON'T HE?" Papyrus asks, desperate to hear some good news. But the flames just stare at him and then down at Sans.

"WON'T HE?!" Papyrus asks again louder this time. But still nothing. He looks down at his brother again, bleeding that horrible stuff all over his face and neck. Almost his entire suit is red now.

Sans stops shaking instantly. He begins to relax, becoming less and less tense looking.

"S-SANS?! SANS, CAN YOU HEAR ME? CAN YOU SAY ANYTHING? OR DO ANYTHING TO LET ME KNOW YOU'RE OKAY?!" Papyrus says. But Sans says nothing. The only thing that happens is that his sockets close half way slowly.

"NO! SANS! YOU C-CAN'T! YOU CAN'T DIE! PLEASE BROTHER DON'T LEAVE ME! I NEED YOU STILL!" Fresh tears start falling from Papyrus' sockets. He gives Sans a small shake, gripping the front of his suit.

"SANS PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DON'T!" Papyrus begs through sobs.

"Papyrus…" Flameheart says.

"NO! I REFUSE TO LET HIM DIE! I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING! ANYTHING! I WON'T SIT HERE AND LET HIM DIE LIKE THIS!"

A small nick appears at the bottom of Sans' left eye. His face begins to split with a thin, thin line heading down to his mouth but not quite making it.

This is it. This is where Sans dies.

Papyrus stares at the crack. No… His brother is going to turn into dust right in his arms…. His big brother who did so much for him. Helped him with his homework, sometimes cheated and gave him the right answers, tried teaching him how to cook and the only thing Papyrus could do PARTIALLY right was spaghetti. Sans helped him learn to ride his bike, helped him with any owies he had as a kid by healing them even though he wasn't so good at it. He wrestled and played games of every kind with him when their parents were out and busy. Sans was even secretly preparing Papyrus for training by using techniques he learned from his own training when they would fight.

He bought Papyrus weird gifts for his birthday but then always brought out the good stuff when the joke was over, let him have what dessert that wasn't finished and always let him pick what he wanted first when they went out to eat.

Sans had even saved him from several things. Being hit by a car, falling into the ocean at the beach, caught him when he'd fallen on the ice. Sans pretty much raised Papyrus when their parents weren't home, which was, unfortunately, rather often. He'd put Papyrus to bed and read to him and even sing to him if they knew they'd be alone, because Sans was always shy about singing. He'd rub his skull and tell him to sleep well, give him a kiss and leave the door open a crack so it wouldn't be dark.

Sans always bought stupid clothes ironically with him, talked about the meaning of life together, looked through magazines and picked out stuff they wanted, swapped clothes for laughs and they danced together and swung each other around. Sans always smiled at him and belly laughed with him at things that weren't funny.

And now… now Sans needs Papyrus to save him.

But Papyrus can't do anything. He's completely powerless to stop this.

The crack on Sans' face gets a bit longer, down to the corner of his mouth now.

Papyrus can't stop himself from shaking now. His soul feels like it's being crushed. He has to watch his brother die without their parents there with him. Grillby and Flameheart are here, but at this point it feels like Papyrus and Sans are alone together in this dimly lit room.

"SANS…" Papyrus manages to only whisper out. He can feel his own grip on Sans becoming gentler. Before, he held on to his brother as if it was the only thing keeping him alive. But now he relaxes, as if any harsh handling will dust him that second.

"PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME BROTHER…" Papyrus says. But Sans neither speaks nor moves.

"I'M HERE FOR YOU SANS… I WON'T LET YOU GO, NO MATTER WHAT."

Papyrus carefully nestles Sans closer to him, trying to get as much of a hug in as possible.

These are his final moments with his brother. Papyrus tries to find comfort in the fact that at least Sans had his friends and his brother there with him in the end…br /…br /…br /…br /…br /…br /"Papyrus… Papyrus, look." Grillby says. The tone in his voice is the only thing that manages to tear Papyrus' face away from his brother's shoulder. He looks up. Sans' empty health bar…

Wait…

HP 3/3

()

Asriel continues to slash buildings with his swords. Loose snow flies everywhere. Gaster teleports many times trying to distract him by grabbing onto his ankles and pulling him away from buildings and escaping humans and monsters. But Asriel just shakes them off. The bone is nothing to him. And this frustrates Gaster to no end. He is NOT weak and his magic bones are as hard as steel! So this is endlessly frustrating to him.

Popping in and out of buildings is Vrinda. She words as quickly as she possibly can, appearing in a building and throwing her hands up to put her magic over everyone and then teleports them all away where Asriel has already been, knowing he won't be going backwards. She goes back and forward over and over and over again. Vrinda can feel herself getting tired. But she has to finish this!

After a half an hour of evacuating, Vrinda finally finishes. She appears next to Gaster and bumps into him a little.

"Gaster!" She says, lifting her hands alongside him and summoning bone spears and even large metal axes.

"[VRINDA! GOOD WORK, NOW HOW ARE WE GOING TO STOP THIS KID?]"

"We don't have a choice, we have to kill him somehow!" Vrinda says, sending her axes flying. Most of them stick into Asriel's back and legs, making him roar in anger.

"[YEAH BUT HOW? HE'S A GOD NOW AND THERE ARE ONLY THREE OF US NOW.]" Gaster makes hands with spiked fingers that grab Asriel and dig themselves into his ankles and wrists.

Vrinda can't answer. She doesn't know… This sort of thing is forbidden, taking a soul and merging with it. So there was never any training on how to kill a god obviously…

Asriel finally turns around and glares at Vrinda and Gaster with his one good eye.

"That's IT. You pests are dead!" Asriel yells. In his hands appear a crazy looking canon, spiked and full of pastel rainbow juice. He aims it at the two and it charge.

Gaster and Vrinda stare with wide eyes. But without even speaking or looking at each other, the two hold hands and throw up their free hands. A giant blaster appears and opens its jaw, eyes glowing yellow and purple each.

"NOW GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Asriel screams as the canon fires.

The blaster fires its giant beam and the two forces meet in the middle. But it becomes obvious which of the two is stronger… The pastel rainbow beam begins to easily push the white beam back.

A green chain wraps around Asriel's neck twice and yanks him back. The rainbow beam flies into the air, destroying two buildings in its path and then goes into the sky. Asriel grabs at the chain around his neck and looks back.

Civetta stands there with the chains in her claws. She yanks again and Asriel tips a little. But he turns around and grabs the chain, yanking her into the air and flinging her. Civetta lets the chain go and flies in the sky.

Asriel turns again, but before he can do anything, a bright orange spear pierces Asriel's side.

"AAAAHHH!" He screams, looking at the spear. It's a magic spear.

"WHAT?!" Asriel yells. He and the Gaster's look over at who threw it and are both happy and scared to see.

A huge crowd has gathered, both human and monster. Everyone has a weapon and their glowing magic is a clump of lights. A giant cupcake with spider legs crawls up and on top of it is Muffet. The old man from the newspaper store is there, the woman who sells Vrinda dresses is there… Everyone that Vrinda saved has come back to help.

"ATTACK!" A human man says. The huge crowd screams and yells, throwing their weapons and shooting their magic guns.

Human magic has always been stronger than monster magic. So their help is invaluable. As much as Gaster and Vrinda don't want them to be here and be in danger, they need their help.

"No!" Asriel yells. He holds up his hands and a clear barrier in the shape of a star appears. But the human's attacks break through the barrier quickly and Asriel's HP begins to go down. Finally, everyone can see the number.

32,865/444,444

"STOP!" He yells again, summoning the shocker breaker canon. But he can't fire. Asriel seems to hold still. Everyone takes this opportunity to throw everything they have at the stone like Asriel. He seems like he's struggling against something. His muscles won't work. It only takes a handful of seconds for his HP to fall….

25,473/444,444

11,204/444,444

521/444,444

2/444,444

Asriel pants and bleeds from nearly everywhere. He finally drops the canon, it bursting into sparkles and floating into the sky. Asriel drops down to his knees, shaking the ground. The crowd takes many steps back and ready more weapons.

"Is… Is this really what… you want?" Asriel says. But Gaster can hear Chara's voice as well… What's going on?

"Yeah…" He replies to himself. Asriel looks down at Gaster and Vrinda with his one good eye, silently telling them to finish this.

"Gaster…" Vrinda says…

"[WE… DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS ASRIEL. CHARA. CAN'T YOU TWO JUST—]"

"Do it." Asriel's and Chara's voices boom… Gaster nods a little. He summons one final bone and it floats in the air silently. Everyone watches as the bone stabs Asriel quickly.

The God of Hyper-Death closes his eyes and falls to the side. He doesn't hit the ground though. His dust falls silently to the ground, some rainbow sparkles floating upwards.

Everyone is quiet for a while…. Until people start to sigh with relief.

Civetta lands hard next to the Gaster's and hugs them tightly.

"We did it!... I know you didn't want to do it you two, but it had to be done… I'll with the crowd. You hurry up and get to your sons. They need you now." Civetta leans back and looks at the both of them. Gaster and Vrinda look at each other sadly. Vrinda looks down now, remembering now that she has to go home to a pile of dust and a distraught son…

Gaster puts his arm around her and nods to Civetta.

"[THANK YOU CIVETTA… ARE YOU OKAY?]"

"I'm fine. Thanks for saving me. Now hurry up." Civetta says. She quickly rushes over to the towns folk.

"[VRINDA?...]" Gaster says, looking down at his wife. Vrinda shakes her head.

"I don't…. know if I can do this Gaster. I'm…"

"[JUST STAND BEHIND ME THEN.]" Vrinda looks up at Gaster now. She nods a little now, standing behind Gaster, her hands on his back.

The two teleport away from the partially destroyed city.

They appear in front of Flameheart's business and walk in. Gaster looks around and sees people looking at the door that no one is allowed into. They look worried and scared. But they finally see Gaster and Vrinda walk in. Some of the people look between the door and the couple.

Muffled sobbing is heard coming from the door. Gaster's sockets widen and he walks forward. Vrinda pinches Gaster's suit and follows him. No… No… Her son. Her baby…

Gaster gets to the door and knocks. Flameheart quickly opens it. The sobs become louder and Vrinda grips Gaster's suit tightly, eyes widening in horror…

"You two. Finally." Flameheart says. He ushers the two in and closes the door behind them. On the floor is Grillby kneeling in front of Papyrus. Gaster can't see Sans…

"[PAPYRUS…]" Gaster says. Grillby turns around a little. He stands up and steps away.

Sans. He's there. Papyrus has huge tears coming down his face and he looks up at his parents.

Gaster looks above Pap's head and sees.

LV 3. 757/757. An odd number. It should be 760 since he killed Chara and gained LV…But why 757?

Gaster looks down at Sans with a new crack in his face.

3/3.

He gasps.

"[SANS.]" Gaster says. He looks back at Vrinda. Just the look on his face tells Vrinda that there's hope. She looks out from behind him and then walks over.

"Papyrus! Wh-what's going on? He—He was at Zero!"

"I-I DON'T KNOW! BUT M-MOTHER, HE'S GOING TO LIVE! ISN'T HE?" Papyrus says, looking at everyone around him. Gaster walks up to the boys and Vrinda and stares at their health bars…. Sans very clearly has 0/0 HP earlier… There's no way he could have gained it back…. Even Vrinda couldn't gain back any more HP. So what's going on here?... Is it just a coincidence that Papyrus is missing three HP he SHOULD have and that Sans now has 3/3? Or…

Gaster kneels down and puts his hand on the crack under Sans' left eye. He feels around with his magic to Sans' soul… And around a weak upside down white soul which would usually be covered in a thin blanket of Sans' magic… is a little bit of Papyrus' magic instead. Gaster's eyes widen and he looks up at Papyrus. How… How did he do that? He transferred some of his own soul power to Sans?

"[PAPYRUS, WHEN DID HE GAIN MORE HP? WHAT EXACTLY WAS HAPPENING?]" Gaster says. Vrinda looks at him confused. Why is he asking questions? Their son is going to live, so who cares?

"I… MOTHER DROPPED US OFF AND… SANS KEPT SHAKING. AND THEN… HE STOPPED. HE STOPPED MOVING. AND… AND HIS FACE STARTED TO CRACK. HE WAS GOING OT TURN TO DUST… SO… I… I WAS REALLY, REALLY SAD. AND I… I HELD HIM CLOSE TO ME AND TOLD HIM THAT I'D BE HERE FOR HIM NO MATTER WHAT…" New tears start spilling over the trails of the old ones.

"AND THEN GRILLBY TOLD ME TO LOOK AND WHEN I DID, SANS' HP HAD GONE UP BY THREE." Papyrus finishes.

Vrinda understands now! She looks between all of her boys and then stays at Papyrus…

"You… you saved Sans, Papyrus. Those three Hp are YOURS." Vrinda says. Papyrus looks at his own HP for the first time and sees the missing three… No way… He didn't know one could do such a thing. How did this happen?

"ME?... I… I SAVED… SANS?" Papyrus looks down at his brother and stares… He doesn't LOOK very saved right now… but those three Hp…

"[HE'S GOING TO LIVE THANKS TO YOU… I CAN'T BELIEVE IT.]" Gaster gets on both knees beside Vrinda and lets out a huge sigh of relief. Vrinda's sockets fill up with tears and they come down her face as she cries. She puts her hands to her eyes and just sobs happily.

"My babies!" she cries.

Behind the family Flameheart and Grillby relax their shoulder, relieved to hear their friend will be okay. Grillby turns around a little and pretends to itch his face. But Flameheart knows that Grillby is just as happy the family is. Flameheart pats his son's shoulder… and then heads to the door.

Flameheart exits the secret room. Everyone sitting at the stools and tables can hear Vrinda and Papyrus crying just before he closes the door behind him. The looks on everyone's faces is horrified… Flameheart gets to the counter and looks down… In a deep voice he says…

"Sans Gaster… is dead."


	11. Chapter 10

It's four days later…

Sans has been changed out of his ruined suit and into a pair of old pajamas. Before he was re-clothed though, everyone took a look at the damage to Sans' bones. Two ribs on his left, six bones and his collarbone on his right have been sliced through. The Determination seeps out of Sans' bones and soils any new clothes that are put on him. He's forced to remain without a top and bandages wrapped tightly around his bones and several towels under his torso and head while Vrinda works her healing magic. She doesn't have to use it very often, but she's the best healer in the family and honestly, the best healer on the East coast. So when her healing doesn't immediately heal Sans' bones, it becomes worrying.

Vrinda is very tired after teleporting so many beings such a distance so many times AND performing healing magic for a couple of hours every day non-stop. Gaster half forces her out so he can take over the shift. Papyrus can only watch while his parents do their best to do what they can for Sans… He wants to learn healing magic more than anything now so he can help everyone. His parents can sleep and save up their magic and he can help his brother.

()

Six days. Sans still shakes violently for several hours every day. Each session lasts about two hours. Determination bleeds out of Sans constantly and the amount of towels he goes through becomes too much for Vrinda and Gaster to handle. They completely run out of towels and have to get a plastic bed cover on the bed so Sans doesn't ruin his mattress. Gaster holds Sans in his arms while the Papyrus and Vrinda put the plastic down.

()

Nine days. No food or drink has entered Sans' body this whole time. It's weird. Sans LOVES eating. But in this state, he can't even open his mouth. Papyrus sleeps in Sans' room now in a wooden chair with a dark green cushion on it. Gaster and Vrinda sometimes sleep in there as well.

()

"MOM?..." Papyrus asks after a sleepless tenth night. The two are sitting beside Sans' bed together. It's 10:40 PM

"Hm." Vrinda hums, rubbing Sans' hand.

"DO YOU REMEMBER ANYTHING AT ALL FROM WHEN YOU WERE ASLEEP?"

Vrinda looks over at Papyrus for a moment… then looks back at Sans.

"No, not at all. I felt like I slept for a long time and when I woke up I didn't feel very good. I was still so tired… And then I-…." Vrinda looks down more and seems to recall something upsetting. Papyrus looks at her, wondering if she'll finish…

"Then I started getting nightmares… And I saw so many things. Terrible things… Things that ended up coming true, but in a different way than I saw them."

Papyrus' sockets widen a little.

"WAIT, WHAT? YOU SAW… VISIONS OF THE FUTURE?" He asks in shock. Vrinda shakes her head a little bit.

"Not exactly… It was more like-… Hm. Everyone looked different. It was a different place completely. And I saw Chara-…. I saw him… do this to Sans. And… I saw him hurt you too." Vrinda says quietly. She looks up at Papyrus a little bit now.

"But… now that Chara is dead, he can't hurt you the way I saw in the nightmare. So that's a relief… Sans wasn't so lucky though. Exactly the same cut…"

"DID YOU SEE ANYTHING WITH YOU AND DAD? IF SOMETHING HAPPENED THAT WAS SO SIMILAR TO YOUR NIGHTMARE, MAYBE WE CAN PREDICT POSSIBLE MOVEMENTS IN THE FUTURE!" Papyrus says.

"I don't know… I… I didn't see your father at all actually. And I wasn't there either. It was just you and Sans… And you were younger. Just by a couple years." Vrinda says. The two are quiet again.

Gaster comes in with hot drinks for the two and he sits down next to them, giving Sans a once over.

"[HOW ARE YOU TWO DOING?]" He asks.

"I think… we're fine. How about you honey? You've still been working through this whole thing." Vrinda says, taking her cup and holding it with both hands. Papyrus does the same, looking past his mother down to Gaster.

"YES, IT CAN'T BE EASY TO CONTINUE MAKING CONNECTIONS AND TALKING TO PEOPLE… I KNOW I COULDN'T DO IT."

"[WELL… IT GIVES ME SOMETHING TO DO. AND I KNOW SANS WILL BE OKAY.]" Gaster says, suddenly sounding a little optimistic.

"[YOUR MOTHER WAS OKAY. IT TOOK HER FOUR DAYS TO RECOVER. IT'LL TAKE SANS QUITE A BIT LONGER WITH AN INJURY LIKE THIS, BUT IF HE HAS HP THEN HE'LL DEFINITELY WAKE UP. HE WON'T FEEL GOOD FOR A WEEK EVEN AFTER HE WAKES UP, BUT STILL, HE'S ALIVE. SPEAKING OF WHICH, THE RUMOR OF SANS' SUPPOSED DEATH IS SPREADING AROUND EXACTLY AS FLAMEHEART PLANNED. HE SURE WAS QUICK FOR THINKING TO DO THAT. OF COURSE PEOPLE AT HIS BAR WOULD SPREAD NEWS LIKE THAT ALL OVER TOWN AFTER WHAT HAPPENED WITH ASRIEL. I'VE EVEN BEEN PROMISED BY MUFFET THAT SHE'LL KEEP THIS INFORMATION QUIET. I DIDN'T EVEN HAVE TO PAY HER WHICH IS AN AMAZING THING IN ITSELF.]" Gaster says, giving a small wave of his hand.

"THAT'S ODD… MUFFET IS SUPPOSED TO BE NEUTRAL ISN'T SHE?" Papyrus says, sipping his drink. It's hot cocoa with marshmallows in it. His favorite.

"[YOU'RE CORRECT. BUT I THINK EVEN SHE SECRETLY KEEPS LOYALTIES. IT'S ALSO IN HER BEST INTEREST TO HELP US OUT, CONSIDERING SHE'S WORKING IN OUR TOWN. BUT SHE… SHE TOLD ME THAT SANS WAS ALWAYS HER BEST CUSTOMER, PAYING HER TWICE AS MUCH AS HE SHOULD FOR EVERYTHING. SO SHE FELT A LITTLE MORE INCLINED TO HELP US OUT. DURING THE FIGHT WITH ASRIEL TOO. SHE BROUGHT HER….. HER WEIRD CUPCAKE SPIDER PET. I COULDN'T BELIEVE SHE SHOWED UP IN THE FIRST PLACE.]"

"I'm glad Muffet is helping us. And what about Civetta? Has she managed to spread the rumor a bit farther west?" Vrinda asks.

"[SHE HAS. SHE'S MADE SEVERAL EXTREMELY CONVINCING CALLS TO CERTAIN PEOPLE WHO ARE KNOWN FOR BEING IN THE LINE OF GOSSIPING. ALL OF THEM HUMAN WHICH ISN'T A SURPRISE. NEWS OF ASRIEL AND CHARA HAVE ALSO SPREAD THOUGH. SO THAT'S NOT THE BEST… I WAS HOPING TO SPREAD THE RUMOR THAT WE ONLY HAD BOTH OF THEM IN CUSTODY AND THAT WE WERE INTERROGATING THEM. SO THAT MAYBE WE COULD ARRANGE FOR A SIT DOWN… BUT I DOUBT THEY'LL EVER AGREE ONCE THEY HEAR THAT BOTH OF THEIR CHILDREN ARE DEAD…. SO VRINDA, YOU AND I WILL HAVE TO BE EXTRA CAUTIOUS. PAPYRUS. /YOU'LL/ HAVE TO BE EXTRA CAUTIOUS. 'AN EYE FOR AN EYE' IS ALMOST A MANTRA FOR THE MAFIA FAMILIES. YOU KILL MY SON, I KILL YOURS. YOU KILL BOTH OF MY SONS, I KILL BOTH OF YOURS. AND SOMETIMES, LITERALLY, AN EYE FOR AN EYE.]" Gaster says, touching his right eye. The eye that doesn't glow as much as the left does…

Papyrus stares at Gaster for a bit, seeing memories flash in front of him.

"We're going to be dealing with a lot of crap really soon here. We don't have much time left until they come after us… Papyrus, we'll have to really increase your training. You don't have a choice anymore. Now that Sans is out of commission for a while, you have to take his place. You have to get twice as strong. No, four times as strong to keep up with the power levels that we need to fight the Dreemurr's…" Vrinda says, looking from Gaster to Papyrus now. Papyrus can already feel his bones aching… But he nods.

"I WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN, I SWEAR. I'LL PROBABLY EVEN BE /STRONGER/ THAN SANS BY THE TIME HE WAKES UP, THE LAZY BONES!" Papyrus says, trying to give his mom a smile. Vrinda gives him a tired smile back.

"I'm going to hold you to that promise. You aren't allowed to break it now."

"THE GREAT PAPYRUS NEVER BREAKS HIS PROMISES! BUT UH… WHO WILL WATCH SANS WHILE WE'RE AT THE HANGAR? CIVETTA WILL BE TOO BUSY WON'T SHE? AND GRILLBY AND FLAMEHEART ARE PROBABLY BEING WATCHED RIGHT? I'D BE WATCHING THEM SEEING AS HOW THE RUMOR STARTED AT FLAMEHEART'S BAR IN THE FIRST PLACE…"

"[HEHE. VERY GOOD PAPYRUS. YOU'RE CORRECT. NOBODY WILL BE WATCHING SANS. HE'S SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD. AND IF WE'RE /ALL/ BEING WATCHED, THEN WE CAN'T HAVE ANYONE BUT US IN THE HOUSE OR HAVE ANYONE BE OTHER THAN US IN CONTACT WITH SANS.]" Gaster says. His cup fits perfectly in the hole in his hand. Papyrus always thought it was weird. Didn't it feel weird?

"BUT IF SANS WAKES UP, HE'LL BE ALONE…"

"[HE WON'T. I'VE CALCULATED THE NUMBERS RECENTLY AND I KNOW EXACTLY HOW MANY DAYS SANS WILL BE ASLEEP UNTIL HE WAKES UP. THIS DOESN'T INCLUDE DAYS THAT HE WON'T BE ABLE TO HELP US AFTER WAKING UP. THAT'S A DIFFERENT STORY THAT I HAVEN'T CALCULATED BECAUSE THERE ARE TOO MANY VARIABLES. BUT STILL, THE POINT IS WE'LL BE THERE WHEN HE WAKES UP.]" Gaster says with a small smirk. Vrinda leans in, excited to hear some good news. Hopefully.

"You really calculated that?"

"[IT'S SIMPLE MATH. JUST SOME DIVISION AND NUMBER CARRYING, AND MAGIC MASS CALCULATING-]"

"Just tell us how many days, Wingdings." Vrinda says curtly. Gaster holds back a snerk. Vrinda hates math and she hates hearing about it, so teasing her with it is a bit fun at times.

"[IT WILL BE APPROXIMATELY 16 DAYS IF EVERYTHING GOES WELL.]"

"AND IF…. EVERYTHING DOES NOT GO WELL?" Papyrus asks.

"[IF THINGS SO SLOWLY FOR SANS, THEN THE NUMBER WILL BE CLOSER TO 25 OR 30 DAYS. A WHOLE MONTH. AND IF I INCLUDE THE DAYS THAT HE'LL BE AWAKE BUT NONFUNCTIONAL, THAT'S 40 DAYS.]" Gaster says looking up as if seeing numbers in the air in front of him. Papyrus knows that's just one of the many faces he makes while thinking.

"That's not good… That's too long without his help." Vrinda says, rubbing the space between her sockets with her now warm palm

"Even with advanced training with Papyrus, we won't have time to defend ourselves against the Dreemurr's… They'll likely be on top of us in fourteen days at most."

"[THEN WE'LL JUST HAVE TO PLAN STRATEGICALLY, JUST LIKE WE ALWAYS HAVE TO WHEN WE'RE IN A TIGHT SITUATION. IF WE HAVE TO PLAY DIRTY THEN WE WILL. AND IF WE HAVE TO KILL THEM THEN WE'LL DO THAT TOO.]" Gaster says. Vrinda gives him a small squint.

"I think you forgot the part where Toriel and Asgore are collecting souls and so far they have six. Just one punk human kid did this… and he and Asriel together destroyed part of the town. If their PARENTS absorb even a single soul then we're like 50% toast. But if either of them absorb any more than one soul then we are absolutely dead… The only reason we were able to beat Asriel was because we got help from a ton of monsters and the determination and magic of the humans. But we absolutely can't involve them in this."

Gaster stares at Vrinda and sees how stressed she is. Her eyes, her hunched back and tensed shoulder blades say it all. He puts a hand on her leg and kisses her head.

"[VRINDA… I KNOW THIS IS EASIER SAID THAN DONE, BUT…. I REALLY THINK YOU SHOULD GO GET A BIT MORE REST. EVEN IF IT'S JUST LAYING DOWN.]" Gaster says. Vrinda sits up a little more with a tiny bit of realization in her eyes. She slowly slumps again and looks over at Sans.

"Yeah… Sorry. I'm gonna go lay down then." Vrinda says. She chugs her drink and then stands up and walks out. Papyrus looks at Gaster who stares after her.

"IS MOM GOING TO BE OKAY?" Papyrus says nervously. Gaster nods and sighs a little.

"[YES, SHE'LL BE FINE…. THIS IS VERY HARD FOR HER TO GO THROUGH. YOUR MOTHER IS VERY EASILY STRESSED EMOTIONALLY AND WHEN THAT HAPPENS SHE BECOMES PHYSICALLY FATIGUED… THIS IS THE FOURTH TIME SANS HAS NEARLY DIED, BUT THIS IS THE WORST OF THEM ALL….]" Gaster says, sipping on his coffee.

"[BUT YOU SAVED HIM, PAPYRUS. WHICH IS AMAZING.]" Gaster says, looking left to see his son. He gives him a sweet smile. Papyrus returns it and looks at Sans, reaching over and rubbing the top of his hand.

"I… I DON'T KNOW EXACTLY HOW IT HAPPENED, BUT AT THIS POINT I DON'T CARE. I'M GLAD I WAS ABLE TO HELP HIM, EVEN IF IT WAS JUST A LITTLE." Papyrus says. Gaster moves over to Vrinda's chair and sits beside Papyrus, patting his shoulder.

"[A LITTLE? WITHOUT YOUR MAGIC HE WOULD HAVE-… WHAT YOU DID IS AMAZING AND IS BY NO STRETCH OF THE IMAGINATION A 'LITTLE' THING. THIS IS HUGE. AND I KNOW THAT WHEN SANS WAKES UP, HE'LL APPRECIATE WHAT YOU DID FOR HIM.]" Gaster says. Papyrus smiles a little bit more at Gaster.

"I HOPE HE WON'T BE UPSET. I KNOW THAT HE'D NEVER WANT MY HP TO GO DOWN, EVEN IF IT /WAS/ TO SAVE HIM..." Papyrus' smile fades quickly.

"CAN WE... REALLY LAST FOR A MONTH WITHOUT SANS?" Papyrus asks. Gaster gives him a reassuring nod.

"[YOUR MOM AND I HAD TO LIVE WITHOUT YOU TWO FOR YEARS. WE WERE ABLE TO DO EVERYTHING OURSELVES... BUT HAVING YOU TWO AROUND MAKES THINGS A LOT EASIER.]" Papyrus can't help but like that his dad said that. It makes him feel like a gem. He knows Sans would have loved to hear it too.

"[THE POINT IS, YES WE CAN LAST WITHOUT SANS FOR A BIT. BUT YOUR MOM WAS RIGHT, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO WORK VERY HARD SO THAT YOU CAN HELP US MORE. WE NEED YOU TO PICK UP THE SLACK.]" Gaster says. Papyrus nods.

"I KNOW. AND I'LL DO MY BEST. BETTER THAN MY BEST! I'LL MAKE SURE THAT SANS DOESN'T HAVE TO BE WORRIED THAT HE CAN'T HELP. AND I'LL MAKE SURE THAT YOU AND MOTHER CAN COUNT ON ME." Papyrus says confidently. He WILL help his family if it's the last thing he ever does. Vrinda won't have to be so stressed out if he can pull off this training and get better at everything. And Gaster won't have to work so hard by himself! And when Sans wakes up, he can continue to relax and recover knowing that his cool younger brother is filling in for him. It'll all work out for sure!

()

Training starts the next day bright and early like always. Before leaving, Papyrus writes Sans a note telling him that they'll be back.

They don't teleport to the hanger. Instead, they drive the car that was given to them by the Bonanno family. Papyrus remembers the last time they were in this car. It was almost a year ago when Sans' anger was building. Even then he'd covered for Papyrus who was worried about the relationship between his mom and brother... Papyrus looks down and barely suppresses a sigh.

From the front passenger seat, Vrinda looks in the rearview mirror at her son. She looks at Gaster sadly, but he just shakes his head. A silent recommendation not to say anything about it... She looks forward and wonders what she could talk about instead to lighten the mood a little... But nothing comes to mind, her thoughts too clouded with stress.

An hour later they arrive at the hangar. They all get out and Gaster hides the car by... making it invisible? Papyrus watches as the car seems to disappear right before his eyes.

"WAIT, HOW DID- BUT WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST-" He says in amazement. Gaster just smiles slyly.

"[NOTHING SPECIAL. JUST A TRICK OF THE EYES IS ALL.]" Gaster shrugs and heads into the hangar.

"FATHER, WHAT IF SOMEONE FOLLOWS US HERE WHEN WE USE THE CAR? WE WON'T BE ABLE TO USE THIS PLACE ANYMORE RIGHT? WHAT IF WE GET CORNERED IN HERE BECAUSE WE GET RAIDED OR SOMETHING?" Pap asks. He follows his parents inside and stares at Gaster waiting for an answer.

"[YOU SOUND LIKE YOUR MOTHER. IT'S GOOD THAT YOU'RE THINKING AHEAD PAPYRUS. BUT TRUST ME WHEN I SAY THAT WERE SAFE HERE. NO ONE CAN EVEN SEE THIS PLACE BUT US.]" Gaster says. Papyrus tilts his head and raises a brow.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?"

"[I MEAN EXACTLY WHAT I SAID. NO ONE CAN SEE THIS PLACE. ONLY PEOPLE WHO WE ALLOW TO SEE THIS PLACE CAN. IF YOU BROUGHT SAY... A FRIEND OF YOURS HERE, THEY'D ONLY SEE AN EMPTY ROCKY LOT. IF YOU WALKED INSIDE, TO THEM YOU'D DISAPPEAR. THEY WOULDN'T EVEN BE ABLE TO HEAR YOU. YOUR MOM OR I HAVE TO TOUCH THEM AND ALLOW SOME OF OUR MAGIC TO COME INTO CONTACT WITH THEM. LIKE PIXIE DUST. AND WHEN WE BOTH DIE, THIS PLACE WILL DISAPPEAR FOREVER SO THAT IT CAN NEVER BE LINKED TO YOU OR SANS.]" Gaster says with a nod. He uses magic to pull the two huge doors of the hangar closed.

"CAN SANS AND I DO THAT?" Pap asks while Gaster and Vrinda summon multiple phase courses.

"[NOT WITH THIS PLACE. IT'S ONLY LINKED TO MOM AND I. BUT YOU AND SANS CAN DO THAT TO SOMETHING ELSE YES. BUT YOU CAN'T USE IT WILLY NILLY. IT'S DIFFICULT TO SUSTAIN.]" Papyrus nods a little, thinking about it… Then he straightens up and stares wide-eyed at his parents.

"WAIT, DOES THAT MEAN YOU AND MOM HAVE TO KEEP THIS PLACE HIDDEN ALL THE TIME? HOW MUCH MAGIC TO YOU TWO HAVE?" Papyrus says. The two just smile at him and nothing more. He's continually amazed by his family and the amount of magic they possess. It's insane. How is it even possible?... The power they have can't just be because of the training they got right?... So what is it? Do all monsters have this potential inside of them? They just need help bringing it out?... Well if that's so, then Papyrus hopes that this training will help get his potential strength to come out too.

()

The training is very hard. Gaster is especially rough with him today. Vrinda seems to stick to sneak attacks. But Pap does everything in his power to keep himself safe. There's no running away. He gets cornered a few times and has to concede defeat. That's three deaths he could have faced already. But he tries again over and over. Once Gaster and Vrinda decide to move on from physically attacking him, they move into shooting at him. With paintballs and bb's of course. Papyrus gets covered in paint and is hit many times by the plastic bb's. This goes on all day long. All. Day. Long. Papyrus forces himself to keep moving though.

"He's so good at keeping himself going," Vrinda says to Gaster as they shoot at their son.

"[HE CERTAINLY IS. HE'S LIKE A SPONGE. LOOK AT HOW HE'S ALREADY GUESSED WHERE SOME OF THE PAINTBALLS WILL GO.]"

"He's always been very smart. Naive at times, but no fool. And his motivation is like nothing I've ever seen before. It's amazing."

"[WE RAISED A COUPLE OF GOOD EGGS DIDN'T WE, MY ANGEL?]" Gaster says, taking several shots at Papyrus without even looking. Vrinda looks up at him and nods happily.

"We sure did. Now let's raise this one a bit more. He'll need it against the Dreemurr's."

"[YEAH.]" The two take better aim now and shoot Papyrus with more accuracy. Papyrus' whines are heard getting louder. The parents can't help but snicker.

()

The eleventh night ends and everyone drives home. No movement from Sans. But Papyrus, even though he's tired and covered in paint and bone welts, goes into Sans' room and tells him about his day while writing it down. Gaster tells Vrinda to go lay down while he makes a couple calls, but Vrinda insists that she help. Gaster bargains with her telling her she can sleep in the same room he's doing work in if it makes her feel better. It does. The two go off into the office room.

()

According to Gaster's previous calculations, Sans will wake up in a max of 28 days. Since 12 days have passed already and all. Papyrus looks at their calendar in the kitchen and notices that Civetta was supposed to check in with Gaster three days ago on January 1st… but nothing has been received. It's not unusual to not hear from her for a few days over the predicted time. But Papyrus doesn't feel good about it.

()

Papyrus continues to write Sans tons of notes for the next three days. His training is so hard and now he's getting a feel for how lonely it is to train without your brother. It feels like a dark place that you're in all by yourself and you can only dream of talking to someone else about what you're going through. Pap wonders if Sans ever wrote any notes like this to him while he was training. Probably not...

()

A week has gone by now with no word from Civetta. Papyrus can feel it in his bones. Something is wrong. Even his parents are whispering when they think he can't hear them about what's taking her so long... What could have happened?

()

On the 16th day, Papyrus hears early in the morning Gaster and Vrinda stomping around and talking loudly with worry.

"What the hell is this supposed to mean?" Vrinda half shouts.

Pap flings the sheets off of him and he stands up quickly and rushes out of his room almost slipping and falling.

"WHAT'S GOING ON? IS IT SANS?" Papyrus asks worriedly. He sees his parents with a note in their hands.

"No- This letter with no return address was given to us by the mail-man. And... he looked so scared. So we opened it up and it's a note from Toriel. She didn't sign it but I know that handwriting." Vrinda says. Gaster hands the note to Papyrus and rushes into the living room where the tv is. Vrinda follows and so does Papyrus, trying to read the letter.

It says: "We have someone of yours. A lovely owl woman. At 5:35 AM on Monday, January 8th, 1951, please turn on your television. It's important to this woman's safety that you do as instructed."

Papyrus stares wide-eyed... The Dreemurr's have Civetta? He runs into the room with his parents. The tv is on.

"Gaster, the phone-"

"[I'VE GOT IT.]" Gaster says, teleporting the phone to his hand and then setting it down beside him on an end table. The news is on... and the anchors look terrified.

5:34 AM

"-just reporting the news. We've been instructed to, at this time, play a tape. If we do not comply, then we will be killed. So as they wished, here is the tape... I'm sorry for what you might see." The anchorman says. 5:35 AM.

The tv clicks over to another image.

On the screen is a dark room with just two light bulbs slowly swaying. They illuminate Civetta who is chained to a chair. But she looks alright. Defiant even.

A deep woman's voice echoes from off-screen.

"Can you tell me your name, little one?" The voice says. Vrinda glares at the tv.

"Toriel..." Papyrus looks between his mom and the tv. So it really is them. The Dreemurr's.

Civetta raises a feathery brow at Toriel off-screen.

"It's obviously Miss. Featherbutt Mcgee. Can't you tell?" Civetta says. Toriel giggles a little.

"Cute. But I'd like your real name please."

"I don't exactly feel like it right now," Civetta says, pulling against the chains a little for emphasis.

"Understandable. But you see, I don't have time for your games my child." Toriel says.

"Games are fun though. And from what I've seen, you love them." Civetta says with salt in her voice. Toriel is quiet for a while... Then she walks into the shot, too tall for the camera to catch her face.

"You're right. I do like games. So let's play one. How many feathers do you think I can pluck before you speak?" Toriel says, reaching down and grabbing a fist full of Civetta's neck fluff and pulling a little, threateningly. Civetta glares a bit at her now.

"Tell me. Is Sans Gaster dead?" Toriel asks.

"Yeah..." Civetta says a bit too convincingly.

"Who killed him?"

Civetta is sure to milk the act for all it's worth.

"A human boy. Green wool and brown hair. I don't know much about him other than he was killing a bunch of humans for their souls. Monsters too if they got in his way."

"I see... Did you see Sans turn to dust?" Toriel asks calmly. Civetta lowers her voice a little and speaks with acidity.

"Yes... I also saw the despair on everyone's faces." Civetta glares. Toriel takes this as truth and lets the feathers go. But really Civetta wasn't lying…

"Good... I know the fates of my children. They're both dead... And do you know who killed them?" Toriel asks.

"Not at all," Civetta says.

Toriel stands still for a long time... She then turns around and reaches for Civetta's wing feathers. Civetta quickly looks away when Toriel grabs some of her flying feathers and rips them out. Civetta's eyes widen in pain but she stays mostly silent save for a small squeak. Toriel drops the fathers on the ground.

"I'll ask again. Do you know who killed my children?" The goat woman asks. Civetta stays quiet now, knowing her voice will shake if she responds... but...

"No..." She says.

The tape goes staticy and Papyrus looks quickly between the tv and his parents. Their faces are angry, seemingly carved in stone. The tv returns. It's two days after the first recording. January 3rd.

Civetta is missing more feathers in random spots. One of her eyes is closed and she looks exhausted. There are some wires coming out of her leg... What are those for?... It's quiet for a minute and then Civetta sits up violently and shakes. Electric sounds buzz out of the tv's speakers. So they're electrocuting her?

The shocks stop and Civetta slowly looks up...

"So. Anything today? Civetta?" Toriel asks off-screen. Civetta looks down at her feet.

"Yeah... Shove it up your ass. That's all I've got for you today." Civetta says, looking up with her one open eye. Her voice sounds like she's been yelling or crying...

"Hm. You're a tough one. Trained well... It's irritating, child. If only you'd tell me what I want to know then you wouldn't have to get hurt."

"It's fine. I can take it." Civetta says with a beaky smirk. "Because I'll NEVER tell you what you want. Would YOU ever tell anyone anything?"

"I would," Toriel says. Civetta looks shocked... then she glares hard.

"I EAT rats like you..." She says with venom. Toriel walks over to Civetta and stands beside her.

"A precious sentiment. But don't worry. I'll get the information I want out of you. One way or another." Toriel raises her hand and swings down, gashing Civetta's face with four long rips from the top right side of her face down to the bottom left. Civetta shrieks and squints her eyes shut tightly. The tv returns to static...

A moment of salt and pepper tv passes when a picture comes back. Two days later again. The 5th. At this point, they've had her for five days. Civetta looks so tired. More feathers are gone, leaving large patches of bald spots. It now looks impossible for her to fly even if she escaped... Her position is different now. Her claws are chained up above her head and she has a spiked collar around her neck made specifically for torture... There's no chair to sit on now. Civetta is forced to stand. She looks around with one eye and doesn't see anyone... So she starts to struggle, pulling down on the chain that's in the cement ceiling. She wriggles violently and gets her clawed foot on the back wall to get a bit more leverage. The spiked collar digs into her neck but she doesn't care. Civetta gets both feet on the wall and walks up against it until her feet are on the ceiling on either side of the metal part holding her chain in the cement. She pulls with all her might. Civetta works with chains for crying out loud, she knows more about them than a normal being would and she's proven her strength in dealing with them. But in her weakened state, it's probably way harder to do normal things. Civetta yanks, tugs and pulls the chain with every ounce of strength she has. She grunts with the strain.

"Come on, you son of a bitch!" She whispers loudly to the chain. With a bit of green magic, she makes the chain glow and pulls again. But nothing happens. She's forced to give up and get her feet back to the ground... The film skips to three hours later and Civetta is sleeping standing up. The electricity comes again and shocks her awake. Civetta breathes hard when it stops. She looks over to her right.

"Wh-what? Did you get bored or something?" She says. A rolling tray comes into frame along with Toriel.

"You could say that," Toriel says. From the metal tray, she pulls up a small dental drill. Deciding against it, she picks up other tools and shows them off in the light. Civetta looks at them all with growing worry.

"I've become tired of this game, child. What I'm going to do now is... torture you until you talk. Without stopping. I hope you're prepared." Toriel says. She grabs a knife and then turns to face Civetta, blocking her from being seen by the camera. Metal restraints come from the wall and they suck the owl against it, clamping around her neck under the spiked collar and completely around her arms and legs past her elbows and knees so there's no way she can escape. A metal band wraps around her waist.

"Where are the Gaster's?" Toriel says seriously. Civetta stays quiet... So Toriel leans in, grabbing Civetta's head with her left hand and holding it tightly. With her right hand she brings the knife in... Civetta suddenly tenses and struggles hard, shrieking loudly. Blood spatters onto Toriel's white fur and into the side of the wall. Toriel ignores the screaming and turns a little bit. She places something into the tray... It's a golden eye.

"I said, WHERE are they?!" Toriel says with a raised voice. Civetta pants and is doing her best to not keep screaming. But it hurts so much!

Papyrus covers his eyes with his hands. He can't watch! This is too horrible!

A hand is placed on his shoulder. Gaster.

"[YOU MUST WATCH, SON. SHE DID THIS ALL FOR US... THE LEAST WE CAN DO RIGHT NOW IS WITNESS HER SUFFERING SO IT WON'T BE IN VAIN.]" Gaster says, the struggle to stay calm in his voice... Papyrus takes his hands away slowly... But before he looks at the tv, he looks over at his parents. They look infuriated... Vrinda has tears welling up in her sockets, but she refuses to let them fall... So now Papyrus looks back to the tv...

This horrible torture of their friend goes on for a long time. It skips hours and hours of torture compressing it all into 20 minutes. Civetta's right arm is broken, knuckle after knuckle is removed from her toes and she's constantly shocked over and over again. Toriel even uses fireballs to burn parts of Civetta's waist and stomach and legs. Toriel seems to become frustrated with Civetta's lack of cooperation... And she leaves... Civetta is revealed to the camera finally... She looks awful. Her empty socket bleeds down her face into her neck fluff and her broken arm looks crooked in the metal restraints...

"WHERE... IS SHE GOING?" Papyrus asks. Before anyone can answer, the screen flicks to salt and pepper again... then returns. But now the bottom right corner says "LIVE". Civetta is on the ground, a chain on each limb keeping her down. Not like she'll get up though. She looks like she was recently beaten to unconsciousness, her eye closed, hp down to 18/1200 and surrounded by her own feathers.

"Civetta," A man's voice says. A deep voice...

"[IT'S... ASGORE...]" Gaster says to himself.

A large goat man with black hair and huge horns appears on camera standing beside Civetta's mangled body.

"Would you like to say anything to your family?" He says. A devious grin finds its way onto Asgore's face. Civetta is quiet for a long time. Then with much effort, she speaks.

"It... doesn't...matter... You won't... tell them anyway..." Civetta says breathily.

"I won't have to. We've been recording you this whole time. They get to see eeeeverything. And now we're live," Asgore says, pacing around her.

"Do you... think... that I'll beg... or something? That you'll... trick me?... Even if we are live... it doesn't matter... You'll just kill me anyway. A fool... could see that." Civetta struggles to say.

"Maybe. Maybe not. In three minutes, were going to get your family on the phone. And they'll decide if you live or die right now." Asgore says, unable to hide a dark chuckle. Civetta seems like she's trying to move to see where the camera is... but she's too tired to move too much.

"That so?... Huh. Well... if they can hear me... I'm ready...for death. I don't mind." Civetta says.

Vrinda can't stop her tears from spilling over now. She reaches over and grabs Gaster's arm sleeve tightly. Gaster looks at her sadly... Then at the tv with what appears to be determination. Like he's planning something. Papyrus looks at them, tears already falling down his long face. How can they make such a face at a time like this?... Civetta is sure that she'll be murdered. She just said she was ready to die!

"Hmph. Noble words. You've grown up a lot. The last time I saw you, you were just an owlet. Outspoken, but a coward. Now here you are, prepared to die for the monsters that allowed you to be kidnapped and tortured for a week?" Asgore says. But his smirk disappears when Civetta laughs as much as she's able to in her state, which isn't much.

"You're an idiot, Asgore. Just like I remember," Civetta says rather confidently.

"If you keep that sass up I won't wait for them to tell me to kill you…" Asgore says.

Toriel walks into frame and brings a phone with her on a tray. She stands beside Asgore.

"Gaster family. I certainly hope you're watching right now. If you want any hope of saving Civetta then you will call the number on the screen."

A number pops up and Gaster recognizes the area code as being from New York. Gaster picks up the phone and moves the rotary dial to each number... and then puts it to the side of his head. The phone in front of Toriel rings. She answers it.

"It's nice to see that you can floor directions."

"[HELLO TORIEL.]" Gaster says evenly. Papyrus can't believe he's able to keep his cool…

"Gaster. We have a proposition for you and Vrinda. Is she there?"

"I'm here Toriel," Vrinda says, leaning into the phone speaker.

"Good. Now. We know that it was you two that killed our children. I've heard that our Chara killed your Sans, correct?" Toriel says. Gaster is sure to give a pause and then speak in a bothered tone.

"[THAT IS CORRECT…]" On the tv, Toriel smiles a little. She nods to Asgore who summons his red trident. He puts the tip of it to Civetta's back.

"Good. Now listen carefully. To save Civetta, you're going to give us a strong human soul, and possession of your city. If you agree, we'll keep Civetta alive. But if you disagree then we kill her."

"What?" Civetta manages to say. She chuckles a little and receives a kick to her chest from Asgore. 10/1200

"What do you say Gaster family?" Toriel says. Gaster looks at Vrinda. She nods. Wait, they're going to do it?... Papyrus feels conflicted. To save her life they could SAY they're going to do what they say. But…

"[INTERESTING. MIGHT I ASK A QUESTION BEFORE WE DECIDE?]" Gaster says. Toriel raises a brow on the tv.

"I suppose so."

"[WHY HAVEN'T YOU USED IT YET?]" Gaster says. Toriel looks confused.

Civetta can hear the phone perfectly with her owl ears. She sticks her owl tongue out and bites it. There's a tiny clicking sound. Toriel looks down at Civetta wide-eyed.

"Kill her," She says quickly to Asgore. Asgore has already raised his trident before she can even speak. He thrusts down and Civetta moves just enough to the side to avoid it.

Gaster raises his left hand and his eye glows. Papyrus can see a strange smirk on his face.

Civetta disappears from the chains. The metal clanks on the ground and Asgore and Toriel look at the camera with fury.

Gaster chuckles from deep in his chest.

"[I SEE YOU'RE AT THE REACTOR CORE. WHAT A FITTING PLACE FOR MONSTERS LIKE YOU.]" Toriel glares at the camera.

"What did you do, Wingdings Gaster?" She says menacingly… Gaster's smirk gets wider.

"[DO YOU HONESTLY THING WE DIDN'T PREPARE FOR SOMETHING LIKE THIS, TORIEL? ASGORE? A FOOLISH MOVE ON YOUR PARTS. HAVE YOU BOTH LOST YOUR EDGE?]" Gaster says, his pointed smirk and glowing eyes making him look menacing. Papyrus thinks he sees another part of his dad. A deep satisfaction in getting what he wants especially if it can piss someone else off. It looks a little scary, but Papyrus is so glad that Civetta is safe because of this.

"[WHAT? YOU DON'T HAVE AN ANSWER? WE /ARE/ ON LIVE TV AFTER ALL YOU TWO.]" Gaster says. Vrinda wipes her eyes and can't stop a smile. Papyrus looks at the TV excitedly, waiting for their next moves.

"Interesting… you were one step ahead this time. But don't worry. You won't be getting rid of us that easily." Toriel says.

"[THAT'S FINE. I DIDN'T EXPECT TO BE RID OF YOU JUST LIKE THAT. BUT YOU WILL NOT TAKE ANY OF OUR HUMANS' SOULS. WE KNOW WHAT YOU'RE PLANNING ALREADY. TAKE THE HUMAN SOULS AND BECOME GODLIKE SO YOU CAN COMPLETELY TAKE OVER THIS WORLD… BUT KNOW THIS. IF YOU ENCROACH ON OUR CITY ANY MORE THAN YOU HAVE, YOU WILL REGRET IT. PLEASE KEEP THIS IN MIND WHEN YOU CARRY OUT YOUR NEXT DISGUSTING PLAN.]" Gaster says and hangs up. Toriel looks at the phone in her hand with shock. Then at the camera with angry yellow and red eyes. Asgore throws his trident angrily at the camera with a roar. The feed becomes static and silent.

"You did it Gaster!" Vrinda says, happily shoving him and smiling.

"WAIT, WHAT'S HAPPENED?"

"[WELL FIRST OF ALL WE MADE A FOOL OF THEM. THEY WON'T BE HAPPY ABOUT THAT. BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS THAT WE CONFIRMED SANS' FAKE DEATH AND WE SAVED CIVETTA FROM BEING KILLED!]"

Papyrus smiles. He's glad that some progress was made.

"WHERE'S CIVETTA THEN? WE HAVE TO GO GET HER!" Papyrus says and stands up. Vrinda stands up quickly and then so does Gaster. The three of them hold hands and Gaster teleports them all.

()

The family reappears in the warehouse. In the center of it is Civetta. She just lays there groaning and trying to move. Vrinda rushes out of the circle and runs over.

"Don't move Civetta!" Vrinda says. She slides on her socked feet beside Civetta and kneels down, her healing magic practically exploding. Civetta just relaxes and sighs.

"You…. You two saved me…. again," she says with a tired smile. Gaster gets over with Papyrus and they both kneel down as well.

"[OF COURSE WE DID CIVETTA… I KNEW THAT WHEN YOU DIDN'T CONTACT ME ON THE THIRD DAY THAT SOMETHING WAS WRONG…. WHY DIDN'T YOU USE YOUR TRACKER?]" Gaster asks. Oohhh a tracker? Is that what he was saying on the phone? But why did he say it to Toriel?

"I… to be honest…. I forgot about it until you…. said it on the phone." Gaster facepalms and shakes his head.

"[FOR BEING A BIRD OF WISDOM YOU SURE DO FORGET A LOT OF THINGS….]" Gaster says with a relieved smile on his face.

"Yeah well…" Civetta begins to say. But the feelings of being healed are so nice that she just stops talking and relishes in it.

"CIVETTA? HOW COULD YOU HEAR FATHER ON THE PHONE?" Civetta opens her one eye tiredly at Papyrus.

"I'm an OWL, you dingus. I have some of the best hearing around…. Aaahhh yeah." Civetta says while Vrinda heals her broken arm.

"OOHH… I SEE. THAT'S AMAZING CIVETTA… I… I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE OKAY. I'M SO SO SO SORRY YOU HAD TO GO THROUGH ALL OF THAT… JUST FOR US." Papyrus says sadly. Civetta uses her other arm to pat Papyrus on the leg.

"JUST for you?... Silly. You guys are the most important people in my life. And I would do ANYTHING in the world for you all." She says with a smile. Papyrus can't believe how strong everyone is….. How much magic they have and how quickly they can bounce back from something so traumatic. Civetta was TORTURED, but she can still smile at Papyrus even while she's broken and burned and she may not be able to fly for a really long time, or EVER if the damage is bad enough… He wonders if he can ever be like that someday… To what extent would he go? He hopes it's as far as everyone else has gone.

"[WE'LL TALK LATER CIVETTA. JUST LET VRINDA HEAL YOU NOW AND WE CAN GO HOME.]" Gaster says, putting a hand gently on her shoulder. Civetta nods the smallest amount and closes her eye.

"Home… Yeah. I'd like that a lot."


	12. Chapter 11

It's the next day and Vrinda, Gaster and Papyrus brought Civetta to her own home. It's a seaside condo on the very top floor. Papyrus remembers running around and playing here with Sans when Civetta would babysit them. This place brings back lots of fond memories of Civetta cuddling the two of them with her warm feathers. More often than not, when she wasn't playing vigorously with the boys, she was allowing them both to sleep on her. She'd wrap her feathered arms around them and they'd use her neck feathers for a pillow.

Now they get her food and drink quickly rushing around her place for blankets and stuff.

"Y-you guys really don't have to—" Civetta starts.

"Hup-pup! Of course we do! You saved our butts Civetta. Honestly, the least we can do is get you stuff to up your HP and make you comfortable. I'm sure calling this week 'absolute garbage' doesn't even cover a quarter of it." Vrinda says, coming over and giving her big thick blankets and fluffing them out over her.

"Ah… Yeah… I know I went through training for torture… but that was…" Civetta says, seeming to drift off into the world that was the Dreemurr torture.

"YOU'RE HOME NOW THOUGH. YOU CAN FINALLY GET SOME REAL SLEEP IN YOUR OWN BED." Papyrus says, trying to be chipper. Civetta looks over with her one eye finally and gives him a tired smile.

"You're right. That'll be really nice… But Gaster. Tell me, where was I being held exactly?"

Gaster walks up with some food and sets it down on the redwood end table beside her cream colored bed.

"[YOU WERE BEING HELD IN NEW YORK. THE PLACE YOU WERE IN IS A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT. A STRANGE PLACE TO PICK….]" He grabs up some bread with seeds on it and starts pulling it into smaller pieces.

"A-uh what are you doing?" Civetta asks Gaster, looking at the bread. Gaster raises a brow.

"[FEEDING YOU. YOUR ARMS ARE STILL IN NO SHAPE TO BE MOVING AROUND MUCH. IN FACT, NO PART OF YOU IS.]" Gaster says.

"U-uhm—but—but…"

Papyrus watches the scene and tries to put himself in Civetta's shoes... Come on training, kick in. What to do here?... Hm! Could it be that Civetta is EMBARRASSED?

Papyrus raises his hand and stands up.

"I MUST GO CHECK ON SANS! TODAY IS THE DAY WHERE, IF ALL IS WELL, SANS WILL WAKE UP!" He says suddenly. Everyone looks at him. But Vrinda is the first to give him a smile and a nod.

"Very well. We'll stay to help Civetta a bit longer. Be careful Papyrus."

"CERTAINLY-"

"[NOW HOLD ON A SECOND.]" Gaster says quickly, raising a holed hand. Vrinda and Pap look at him quickly.

"What?" Vrinda says.

"[TODAY, YOU'LL BE TELEPORTING /YOURSELF/ HOME PAPYRUS.]" Gaster says with a tiny grin. Papyrus looks a bit nervous... He's only teleported once though…

"You can do it," Civetta says. "I was so proud when you teleported that first time. So don't sell yourself short. Don't be nervous."

Pap looks at Civetta and taps his fingers together nervously.

"[IT'S JUST THE REVERSE OF TELEPORTING YOUR WEAPONS TO YOU. ADMITTEDLY YOU WON'T GET FAR IN YOUR FIRST SEVERAL TELEPORTATIONS, BUT YOU'LL GET THE HANG OF IT. NOW OFF YOU GO.]"

"WAIT, WHAT IF I GET LOST?"

The three adults hold back a snerk.

"Lost? Sweetheart, you've lived around here your whole life... AND we've been training you in the city this whole time. You should know the layout like the back of your hand by now. Have more confidence in yourself."

"Agreed. Besides, I thought you were The Great Papyrus!" Civetta adds. Gaster nods.

"I... I'LL TRY. UH... WHEN DO I GET ONE OF THOSE TRACKER THINGS?" Papyrus says both in jest and in seriousness.

"[YOU'VE ALREADY GOT ONE. BACK TOOTH ON THE LEFT. WE ALL HAVE ONE THERE. YOU CONSTANTLY TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE. ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU EAT THOSE PUMPKIN SEEDS.]" Gaster says. Papyrus' jaw drops.

"ARE YOU TWO EVER GOING TO TELL ME THESE THINGS AHEAD OF TIME?" Papyrus says, throwing his long arms in the air.

"We probably should..." Vrinda says with a small grimace toward herself.

"I'M JUST GOING TO LEAVE NOW... BUT WHEN YOU COME HOME, YOU HAVE TO TELL ME /EVERYTHING./" Pap says, pointing at his parents with a squint. Gaster wants to ask Papyrus jokingly if he plans on interrogating them, but seeing as how Civetta is laying right there, he thinks the timing is probably super inappropriate.

"[YES YES WE WILL.]" Gaster says with a smirk. Papyrus is pretty sure that means "yeah right" or something... He shakes his head and focuses now. On where he wants to go.

His brother. Sans. Sans needs him to be there for him. What if he's already woken up and is alone?

Papyrus wishes very hard that he can be next to his brother and finally uses his magic.

The picture of the world around him becomes puzzle pieces and they start to come apart from each other. Papyrus watches amazed. He's never seen this pattern before. It only just occurs to him that every member of his family has had different teleportation patterns. Gaster's reality rips apart like cotton fabric, holes getting large and fraying. Vrinda's is more like glitter falling and replacing the first image with the second. Sans' is more like a warping swirling look. Pap recalls it making him dizzy and sick almost every time. And now his own teleporting image is of puzzle pieces. Papyrus can't help but feel proud of his own magic... He wonders what the others would say if they could see it.

The puzzle pieces come back together and... the wrong image appears. He didn't make it very far, just like his dad said... He looks around and he's only made it a few hundred yards away from the condo.

"CUSS." Papyrus says. He looks to his right to where the ocean is. Fishing boats, the sound of dinging buoys, crab and lobster cages being set up on the docks. The skeleton family isn't really allowed by the water... Vrinda won't allow it. She says they'll drown and sink to the bottom like stones. So Papyrus never gets to see the ocean very often. Maybe this short teleportation thing isn't so bad for now.

After hanging around the docks for a bit longer, Pap teleports a bit further on. He makes it very close to Flameheart's and decides to go visit. Just for a second. He opens the door and peeks his head in. People inside turn to see him. Some look sadly at him, but others wave and clap, and some even get up and go over to him and hug him!

"Your dad really showed those jerks!" One human man says clapping Papyrus on the shoulder with a big happy smile.

"That was so scary! Do you know if that lady is okay?" A human woman asks.

"Tell her I think she's awesome!" A young magpie bird boy says. Is he even old enough to be allowed in here?

"I'm really sorry about your brother..." A lizard monster man says.

Papyrus remembers that he has to stay quiet about Sans. Alright, phase one of training is becoming a real skill he has to use. Let's see how this goes...

"A-AH... THANK YOU EVERYONE... I'LL BE SURE TO RELAY YOUR MESSAGES..." Pap says, becoming somber. It's not too hard to do really. He just puts himself back in time to when Sans really was beginning to crack and die in his arms. Everyone seems to back off a bit now, becoming quieter.

"Your brother was a great guy..." A bunny girl says. "Funny and clever... But I'm sure I don't have to tell you that." She bows her head a little and goes back to her seat. Everyone pats him on the back and says their apologies before doing the same. One human teen stays though.

"How are you and your parents doing?" He asks.

"HM... AS WELL AS WE CAN I SUPPOSE... LOSING SANS IS HARD ON US... BUT WE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO KEEP GOING ON." Papyrus says. He wonders how many people didn't know that his family being in the mafia that knows now... Since the live broadcast, it seems almost everyone should know now. He also wonders if his parents even thought about the fact that everyone would find out who they really were because of this broadcast... The amount of unwanted attention they'll be getting from now on will skyrocket! Oh boy...

"Well, I hope things start looking up for you guys." The teen says. He walks off and joins who appears to be his father. Papyrus looks over at his flame friends and walks over.

"Hello there, Papyrus," Flameheart says when Papyrus sits down.

"HELLO THERE, YOU TWO… HOW ARE THINGS AROUND HERE?" Papyrus says. Grillby sets a glass on the clean shelf and comes back to clean another glass.

"Unusually lively. Especially today." Grillby says.

"Seriously. After that broadcast… It was pretty worrying, watching Civetta get hurt like that. But hearing your dad on the TV and the radio completely make a fool of the Dreemurr's and the fact that Civetta was saved made everyone pretty happy." Flameheart says with a big smile.

"How is she?" Grillby says very quietly. Papyrus gives a little nod.

"HOME. MOM AND DAD ARE TAKING CARE OF HER FOR A WHILE…. BUT… I'M WORRIED ABOUT HER. HER EYE, AND HER TOES… SHE NEEDS THOSE. AND HER WINGS LOOK HORRIBLE. I'M NOT SURE IF SHE'LL BE ABLE TO FLY." Papyrus says, frowning a little. Flameheart and Grillby both make the same sad face and look at him.

"You're kidding… So it's really as bad as it looked on the tv?" Flameheart says, his crackling voice a low hum. Papyrus nods… He looks up a little though and attempts to give them a tiny smile.

"BUT FOR WHAT SHE JUST WENT THROUGH, SHE'S IN RATHER HIGH SPIRITS," Papyrus says. Grillby lets out a single breathy "hm" as a laugh.

"That sounds like her… That's good at least. And how is the sapphire by the way?" Grillby says. Papyrus looks at him strangely. Sapphire? What is he talking about?... Is this code? Oh crap, think fast Papyrus, what is he referencing?

"I heard it was cracked recently," Grillby says. Papyrus takes a moment to think…. OH! Sapphire's are blue and so is Sans' magic!

"AH THE SAPPHIRE… HM. WELL I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO REPARE IT. IT'S STILL JUST SITTING THERE. I'M WAITING FOR IT TO BE FIXED. I'M TAKING GOOD CARE OF IT THOUGH." Papyrus says. Grillby nods a little and so does Flameheart.

"HOW ARE- IS THE… THE UH…" Papyrus starts. Grillby knows he wants to say "how are the kids" but that might be too obvious since that stops being code VERY quickly. So he quickly helps Pap out.

"The house? It's perfect." Grillby says with a smile. Flameheart can't stop a confident and happy "hmph." Grillby eyes him and his smile turns into a possibly irritated one?

"But SOMEONE keeps painting it. Honestly, the house is going to become SPOILED, expecting a new layer of paint every single day." Grillby says. Flameheart turns his head quickly, the flames on his head making a WOOSHing noise.

"Well, I'm sorry that I love the house so much." Papyrus laughs at them a little. He's glad to hear Selena and Fuku are doing well. Fuku will be a year old very soon, Papyrus recalls. March 8th. What should he get her for her birthday he wonders… What will Sans give her? Something unconventional surely.

"I'M GLAD TO HEAR THAT. BUT AH, I HAVE TO GET HOME. THE SAPPHIRE MIGHT BE FIXED TODAY IF ALL GOES WELL." Papyrus says. He gets out his wallet and pulls out twice the amount of a drink he didn't buy and sets it down.

"Hm. Let's hope it goes well then." Flameheart says. Grillby reaches over and takes the money, but a slip of paper slides out from under one of the dollar bills. That wasn't in his wallet… Oh. It's got Grillby's initials on the corner in VERY small lettering. So as discretely as he can, Papyrus takes the paper and puts it in his vest pocket.

"SERIOUSLY… UH, SEE YOU TWO LATER." Pap says. He gets up and walks out, waving back at a few people that wave at him.

As Papyrus walks down the street, he can't believe that everyone knows who they are now… After all the years of keeping this stuff secret, everyone who saw that broadcast in the city knows that the Gaster family is part of the mafia. Or they at least know that something is UP. How on earth are they supposed to sneak around now?... Although, there have always been people that already knew and they HELPED the family out and kept quiet. So they'll probably continue to do that…

Papyrus finds a nice secluded alley and focuses… He teleports just a few blocks away from his home. Then he teleports again and appears right in the living room.

"UH OH, SNOW ON THE HARDWOOD FLOOR. CAN'T HAVE THAT." Papyrus takes his shoes off quickly and puts them on the long carpet specifically for shoes next to the door and wipes the water up with his sock.

"SANS, ARE YOU AWAKE YET LAZYBONES?" Pap calls as he walks through the living room and then to the right down the hall. Sans' door is to the left. He pokes his head into the bedroom and Sans hasn't moved an inch… Papyrus sighs.

"BROTHER, ARE THINGS NOT GOING WELL? FATHER SAID YOU'D WAKE UP ABOUT NOW IF THINGS WERE OKAY WITH YOU… OH BROTHER, I WISH I COULD HELP YOU… I WISH YOU COULD TALK TO ME… A LOT HAPPENED YESTERDAY AND TODAY. YESTERDAY WAS REALLY SCARY. THE DREEMURR'S KIDNAPPED CIVETTA AND THEY HURT HER REALLY BADLY. BUT SHE DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING. AND SHE LIVED! FATHER SAVED HER. AND NOW SHE'S AT HOME RECOVERING…. AND HERE YOU ARE, STILL NOT WAKING UP…. YOU'VE STOPPED SHAKING THOUGH SO THAT'S GOOD. MOTHER WOKE UP A FEW DAYS AFTER SHE STOPPED SHAKING. REMEMBER? OH, AND CAN YOU STOP BLEEDING ALL OVER THE PLACE? YOU'RE MAKING A HUGE MESS, AS USUAL, SANS." Papyrus says. He stares at Sans, waiting for him to make a snarky response. But none comes.

Papyrus hears the footsteps of his parents at the front door. They take their shoes off and walk down the hall. The door opens a bit more and the parents peek in.

"Hi Honey. Anything?" Vrinda says.

"NO, NOTHING YET. BUT I WAS JUST TELLING HIM HOW HE SHOULD WAKE UP SOON. HE STOPPED SHAKING YESTERDAY AND HASN'T DONE IT AT ALL TODAY." Papyrus says, turning to the door.

"[THAT'S PROMISING. WILL YOU BE STAYING IN HERE AGAIN TONIGHT?]" Gaster says, walking down the hall to his and Vrinda's room to hang his coat.

"YES. HE'LL WAKE UP SOON AND I WANT TO BE THERE WHEN IT HAPPENS. I'M SURE HE'LL BE EXCITED TO EAT SOMETHING TOO."

Vrinda looks at her boys… She walks in and kisses Papyrus' head and then leans down to kiss Sans' head.

"HOW WAS CIVETTA WHEN YOU LEFT?"

"She's remarkable. She ate and got her HP all the way back up and managed to be optimistic about her feet and wings and eye… I'm not so sure I'd be as strong as her. We're VERY lucky to have her in our family." Vrinda says, standing up straight now. Papyrus nods.

"I AGREE," Papyrus says.

"Try to actually sleep tonight Papyrus. In your own bed preferably." She says, rubbing Papyrus' skull sweetly.

"I CAN'T PROMISE ANYTHING," Pap says looking up at his mom with a smile. Vrinda gives up and shakes her head, giving him a smiling kiss on the head.

"Well, that's better than 'no' I guess. Training tomorrow, so I'm serious." Vrinda walks out and heads to her room, the opposite way that Gaster went. Papyrus looks back to Sans and stares. His poor face is stained heavily with Chara's determination. Even in death, that horrible kid plagues his brother… Papyrus gets up and heads to the bathroom and gets the hydrogen peroxide then returns to his brother's room with a towel. He sits back down and carefully pours some peroxide on his brother's face to try and clean some of the stains away.

"HONESTLY SANS, WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITHOUT SUCH A COOL GUY TAKING CARE OF YOU?" Papyrus says to Sans.

He stays with him for the rest of the day, writing notes and letters to Sans and eventually falls asleep in the chair, leaning against his brother's bed and holding his hand.

Gaster peeks in and smiles a little. He leaves and then comes back with a blanket from Papyrus' bed and covers him in it. With a small kiss to each of his boys' heads, he wishes them good night and leaves the door open a crack.

"He fell asleep in there again, didn't he?" Vrinda says. Gaster looks down the hall at his wife who's in her nightdress and in a folded arm pose. Gaster nods and walks down to her, still in his day clothes.

"[NATURALLY. GIVE UP ON GETTING HIM TO SLEEP IN HIS OWN ROOM. I SUSPECT THAT EVEN AFTER SANS WAKES UP, PAPYRUS WILL SLEEP IN THERE UNTIL SANS KICKS HIM OUT.]" Gaster says with a shrug and taking Vrinda's hand, giving her a little spin. Vrinda stops her spin and hugs Gaster.

"That wouldn't surprise me. I guess I should give up. On that anyway. You, on the other hand, are NOT getting into bed with those clothes on. Get into your jammies and snuggle me." Vrinda says. Gaster chuckles and grins.

"[YES MA'AM.]" He says and goes into their shared room. He undresses and gets some fleece pants on and the two crash into bed tiredly.

"So. Today is the day that Sans should have woken up… What do you calculate now?" Vrinda says, snuggling up to Gaster. Gaster puts an arm around her and stares into space for several seconds.

"[WELL LIKE PAPYRUS SAID, SANS HAS STOPPED SHAKING. AND BY THE PERCENTAGE OF TIME THAT YOU WOKE UP AFTER SHAKING… LET'S SEE… SANS SHOULD NOW WAKE UP IN… A WEEK. BUT THAT'S STILL IF THINGS GO WELL, WHICH THEY DON'T SEEM TO HAVE SO FAR FOR SANS. BUT STILL. HE'LL WAKE UP.]"

"Yeah… But now that Asgore and Toriel are after people who work for us… what are we going to do without Sans' strength? Papyrus is getting better, but he's still absolutely not ready to deal with those two… Twenty years ago we still couldn't beat them. With Sans and Papyrus both we'd probably have a better chance. But now we're out of practice in dealing with Asgore and Toriel, and our boys have never even met them… I'm worried Gaster." Vrinda says. Gaster thumbs the top of her skull and kisses her head.

"[I KNOW YOU ARE… I WISH I COULD TAKE THAT WORRY AWAY FROM YOU. YOU NEED TO GET BETTER SLEEP. BUT ALL I CAN TELL YOU IS… WELL AFTER TWENTY YEARS, THEY'VE GOTTEN STRONGER… BUT SO HAVE WE. WE'RE NOT WEAK LIKE WE USED TO BE. SO PLEASE, MY PRECIOUS ANGEL, SLEEP FOR ME,]" Gaster says. Vrinda looks up at him a little… and then closes her eyes and cuddles close.

"Fine. Just for you." She says. Gaster knows it's easier said than done… Soooo he very carefully and slowly lets some magic flow from the holes in his hand into Vrinda's skull. Vrinda relaxes and she falls asleep instantly. Gaster kisses her head and closes his own eyes.

()

Three days go by. Sans is still out. Papyrus continues to write notes. The training is still harsh and different training implements are used. Gaster and Vrinda are continuously surprised by Papyrus' ability to suck up everything he learns. Vrinda finds it weird that he seems to work better under pressure. When the parents were babying him, Papyrus wasn't making much progress at all. Two years almost completely wasted. If they'd trained him harshly from the start then he'd probably be a bit more helpful for the shit storm that is the Dreemurr's. But still, Papyrus is doing a fantastic job. She wonders if Sans being out is propelling him forward even more than usual… It wouldn't shock her.

()

January 13th, 1951

Papyrus wakes up in the afternoon. He freaks out when he sees what time it is and rushes out of his room. But neither of his parents are home.

"UH…. MOTHER? FATHER? YOU'RE NOT HOME?" Papyrus calls. No response.

"ALLLRIGHTY THEN. HM. WHY DIDN'T THEY TELL ME WHERE THEY WERE GOING?..." He shrugs and walks to Sans' room.

"BROTHER?" He says. No movement. Papyrus pouts a little.

There's a knock at the door. Papyrus doesn't often hear knocks at their door, even now that people know who they are. He heads to the front door and puts his hand on the wall as he goes. With some magic, he takes the sight out of one of his eyes and lets it stay with the magic to he can see who it is.

At the door is a man with a black undercut and white hair on top, pale skin and blue eyes. He's got a cream colored turtleneck with a black suit and a black coat. Beside him is a much shorter woman with blond hair and brown eyes, a yellow wool dress and a white coat. Her lips are as red as can be. Papyrus can't help but think they look weirdly familiar, but he doesn't know how or why.

Papyrus gets to the door and takes his magic and sight back into his eye and then slowly opens the door.

"HELLO?" He says.

"Good afternoon! We were hoping to speak to a… Wingd-wingdi… wingdings? Gaster?" The woman says. Her voice is familiar, but it's higher pitched.

"Yes, we'd like to have a little sit down with him and Mrs. Gaster." The man says. Papyrus is dumbfounded. Can people really be so stupid? There's no way his parents would just agree to that if someone is right at their damn door. What is he supposed to say?

"UH, SORRY BUT I DOUBT THEY'D TALK TO YOU." He says outright. The woman looks a bit shocked.

"What? How come? Is it because we're humans?" she says.

"N-NO NO, IT'S NOT THAT AT ALL." Papyrus looks left and right quickly with just his eyes and then leans in a bit.

"I'M GOING TO LET YOU IN ON A SECRET. COMING TO THE FRONT DOOR ISN'T HOW YOU ARRANGE A SIT DOWN. NOT AROUND HERE. IT'S WEIRD." Pap says. The man and the woman look at each other.

"Really? Where would we go then? Are there really designated spots to have a sit down?" The man says. He looks genuinely confused, but Papyrus can't help but be wary and nervous of these people… They're familiar and he doesn't like it. It's extremely eerie and he swears he can feel malicious intent.

"INDEED. BUT YOU'LL HAVE TO FIND THEM ON YOUR OWN. SO UNTIL YOU CAN FIGURE OUT WHERE IT IS, PLEASE BE ON YOUR WAY." Papyrus says. He hopes that isn't too harsh… The woman pouts and folds her arms.

"Poop. Fine. Thanks anyway kid." She says. But instantly, the man lunges forward with a small knife, aiming directly for Papyrus' neck. Pap leans back and grabs his hand, yanking him forward, hitting the mans' face against the door frame. He takes the knife from the man's hand and teleports several other knives into his hands and pointing one fist full of knives at the woman. His eyes glow orange.

"Oooh, pretty." She says and grins. It's creepy and still familiar! What is going on here?

"Is there… someone inside or something?" The woman says. Papyrus does his best to stay poker-faced, but he can't for the life of him understand who these people are. Why do they know about Sans being inside?

"I WILL GIVE YOU ONE CHANCE TO PLEASE WALK AWAY LIKE I ASKED YOU TO BEFORE. IF YOU PROCEED AGAIN I WILL NOT HESITATE TO KILL YOU." Papyrus says. He CANNOT let these people any closer.

"Hehe. Very good." The woman says. But Papyrus doesn't move from his spot. The man steps back holding his face.

"That hurt you know." He says.

"WHO ARE YOU TWO? ANSWER ME IMMEDIATELY." Papyrus says.

"Well, the fact that he doesn't know is a pretty good sign." The man says. The woman nods a little and stares Papyrus down.

"Sorry, but we can't leave. If we can't talk to Mr. and Mrs. Gaster, then I guess we'll have to settle for you. Aaaand then when we're done with you…." She says, glancing at the door. Papyrus glares. She plans to get inside…. Pap steps out and closes the door behind him without looking away.

"I WOULD RATHER NOT FIGHT RIGHT HERE. OTHER PEOPLE LIVE IN THIS AREA. SO I'LL BE MOVING THIS ELSEWHERE."

"You will huh?" The man says, letting go of his face. No blood or anything? No bruise? How is that? Papyrus smashed his face very hard on that wooden door frame… Either way. Papyrus lifts his hands and both of his eyes glow orange. The world around the three of them turns into puzzle pieces. The humans look around genuinely confused. They look at each other and then quickly at Papyrus.

Once the three land, they're only a couple blocks away. But it's in the middle of the street so they're at least many feet away from most of the houses.

"Wow, that was interesting. Too bad you used a ton of magic to do that, kid." The man says with a grin. The woman wastes no time in running forward at Papyrus, a large knife in her hand. Papyrus wonders if these humans are similar to Chara. He wastes no time in grabbing the woman's wrist and kneeing her in the stomach. What is this? She doesn't feel quite human. Her skin feels a bit squishier. Maybe it's just her.

The woman takes the knee like a champ and twists herself around violently, not caring when her wrist snaps. She grabs Papyrus backwards with one hand and thrusts him forward. She's so strong! Papyrus flies in the air, but flip and lands on his feet and one knee. He looks at the woman and watches her grimacing at the pain in her wrist. A human would be yelling in pain right about now. What IS she?

"Pay attention." The man says, coming up behind Papyrus. Papyrus ducks down a bit more and rolls to the side, spinning his legs around and kicking the man's knife out of his hand. Where did he get a second knife? It doesn't matter. Papyrus sits up and thrusts his knife forward. The man just barely dodges and then does his own kick. But Papyrus dodges and rolls away again, standing up. The couple regroups quickly. The woman's wrist is… fine. How? Did she heal herself? And before, why did the man warn Papyrus to pay attention? No enemy gives away their position like that. What's going on?

"YOU TWO COULD STOP FIGHTING RIGHT NOW. I'M SURE YOU CAN JUST WAIT A WHILE TO TALK TO THE GASTER'S. AS FOR GETTING INSIDE THE HOUSE, THAT WON'T BE HAPPENING. SO PLEASE JUST GIVE UP BEFORE I HAVE TO HURT YOU…" Papyrus says. The couple looks at each other…. And then nod.

"We give up." The man says. Papyrus doesn't dare relax. Yeah right. "We give up?" Bull.

"JUST LIKE THAT? WHY FIGHT IF YOU'RE JUST GOING TO GIVE UP SO EASILY?" Papyrus asks.

"Well mostly because we wanted to see how you'd react to these faces in a fight." The man says. Papyrus raises a brow. Their faces?

"Aaaand, 2:20 PM," The woman says, looking at a watch on her wrist.

"Good work," She says. The man raises a hand and Papyrus stares. They are CREEPILY familiar. The way he's holding his hand up is exactly like how Gaster raises his hand when he's using magic…. Wait a damn minute. Reality tears apart like cotton and after a while, the holes in the fabric repair themselves and the inside of the Gaster house appears.

"Now before you freak out, Papyrus, don't worry. It's just your mother and me," the man says with a smile. Papyrus is still on edge.

"Hehe. Good idea to stay on guard though. But we can prove that we're your parents. Sans is in his room recovering after an attack from Chara. And you keep the door open to let some light in because you used to be scared of the dark, but now you're used to the lighting," the man says. The woman looks at her watch again.

"WHAT? HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE SOMETHING LIKE THAT AND THEN TELL ME SOMETHING THAT MANY PEOPLE DO? MY PARENTS, FOR YOUR INFORMATION,-"

"Your what?" the woman says. Papyrus knows he caught. He wasn't supposed to say anything EVER. No relation is to be made unless it's someone in the family.

"Heehee.~ Alright alright that's enough of that. Papyrus, you have to remember that even in times of stress like this, only YOU will ask the questions. Never answer them." The woman looks at her watch one last time and then the couples' image begins to glitch and become staticy. The human skin and hair fades away into nothingness and standing in the humans' places are skeletal Gaster and Vrinda. Papyrus' eyes go wide.

"NO WAY….. HOW DID YOU-... I KNEW YOU TWO LOOKED FAMILIAR!" Papyrus says. He teleports the knives in his hands away and walks over. Vrinda giggles and gives Gaster a pat on his arm.

"I told you he wouldn't outright recognize us."

"[THAT'S AMAZING. BUT I SUPPOSE IT MAKES SENSE. HE'S USED TO SEEING SKELETONS. AH, BUT ANYWAY. PAPYRUS, YOU HANDLED THAT RATHER WELL I THINK.]" Gaster says. Vrinda folds her arms.

"No way, he did great! Pap you did GREAT. I'm so proud of you! You used your magic to see who was at the door, and really you did all you could to get rid of us without causing a scene. And baby, you teleported ALL THREE of us! And you fought pretty decently! You really went for it!" Vrinda nearly shouts in excitement. She clasps her hands together and hugs Papyrus tightly.

"And your magic is so pretty! Your teleporting magic- and oh you're EYES! They finally lit up! Eeee I'm so proud of my baby!" Vrinda shakes Papyrus around with the biggest smile he's seen in a really long time. Since they got the car! He's glad he could make her so happy. Wait, if he was fighting them this whole time… then…

"W-WAIT, THAT MEANS-" Papyrus careful grabs Vrinda's wrist and looks at it.

"YOUR WRIST MOTHER! I'M SO SORRY! OH MY GOD DAD, I HIT YOUR FACE ON THE DOOR!" Papyrus says in a panic putting his hands on his own head. Gaster just laughs and waves dismissively.

"[QUITE ALRIGHT. IT WAS A GOOD MOVE I HONESTLY DIDN'T/SEE/COMING.]" Gaster says.

"[WE WERE HOPING TO GET YOU TO FIGHT. WE WANTED TO SEE HOW THE GLAMOURS WORKED AND TO SEE HOW YOU'D FIGHT WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WASN'T US. AND I'M PROUD OF YOU. IF YOU CAN TAKE BOTH OF US ON THEN FIGHTING ONE PERSON SHOULD BE NO PROBLEM. GOOD WORK SON.]" Gaster says with a big smile. Papyrus hugs them both and pretends to cry.

"OOOOOO! I'M SO SORRY I HURT YOUUUU!" Papyrus whines. Vrinda and Gaster both chuckle and hug Papyrus.

"Aw, my poor baby. It's fine, dad and I have had much worse." Vrinda says. That only makes Papyrus howl with sadness. Waterfalls of tears come down his face and the parents just laugh.

()

Once that's all over, the family heads to Sans' room and have a meeting.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU TWO WERE THOSE PEOPLE. PLEASE EXPLAIN NOW WHAT'S GOING ON." Papyrus says.

"[YES. WELL, A FEW DAYS AGO WE WERE THINKING OF A WAY TO SNEAK UP ON THE DREEMURR'S. WE CAN'T JUST WALTZ INTO THE REACTOR LOOKING THE WAY WE DO.]"

"Well we could, but it isn't advised." Vrinda half whispers with a teeny smile. Gaster raises a brow and smirks at her. Just imagining dancing into the reactor and confusing the goat family is funny enough to almost make him reconsider.

"[SO WE THOUGHT 'WELL WHAT IF WE LOOKED DIFFERENT' AND OFF WE WENT TO FIND THE ONLY GLAMOUR SHOP. MUFFET'S.]" Gaster says. Papyrus looks confused.

"WHAT? I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW GLAMOURS EXISTED, WHATEVER THEY ARE, HOW DID YOU KNOW SHE SOLD THEM? WHAT ARE THEY? WH—"

"Just hold on honey. Alright well, we didn't know glamours existed either. But we visited Muffet and paid her to give us some information on what we could do to change our looks. And she offered her services. As expected, a delicious donut was used. She did something to it, I'm not sure what, and when we ate them, I got… warm. Did you get warm Gaster?" Vrinda says. Gaster nods.

"[I DID. IT WAS AS IF OUR BONES WERE BEING COVERED IN ACTUAL HUMAN FLESH. VERY STRANGE INDEED. IT WAS VERY STRANGE TO SEE MY HANDS WITHOUT HOLES IN THEM.]" Gaster says, looking at his hands again.

"[BUT IT WAS INTERESTING TO SEE YOUR MOTHER AS A HUMAN. A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN NO MATTER WHAT.]" He says and gives Vrinda a flirty side eye. Vrinda just baps his leg.

"Oh stop you, you're going to make me blush. I think it was interesting to see YOU as a human! You had two hair colors! And the prettiest blue eyes I've ever seen." Vrinda says. Her skeletal cheeks turn yellow with a magic blush.

"What a catch I made, getting a man that's hot as a monster AND a human!~" She squeals and wiggles in her seat excitedly. Papyrus forgets for a moment that this woman who's acting like a teenage school girl is a killer and half of the title "boss" in a mafia family.

"YOU TWO AREN'T GOING TO MAKE OUT OR SOMETHING RIGHT?" Papyrus asks as flatly as he can. He loves when his parents are romantic, but he thinks it's a good time to change the subject.

"U-uh—No, I guess not. Not right now anyway." Vrinda says. Her and Gaster smirk at each other and Papyrus sighs. He can't win with these two, honestly!

"ANYWAAAAYYYY. SO YOU GOT THE MAGIC DONUTS AND THEY MADE YOU LOOK HUMAN. THAT'S VERY INTERESTING, YES YES, BUT TELL ME ABOUT HOW YOU WERE ABLE TO BE SO… DIFFERENT THAN YOU ARE NORMALLY. YOUR SPEECH PATTERNS WERE DIFFERENT AND YOUR FIGHTING STYLES WERE TOO." Papyrus says.

"Ah yes, well, the two of us have made many many formations for attack and defense and both. We just used a formation that we haven't tested on you yet. And as for speech patterns, it wasn't very difficult… Having lips was very very weird. And after that, we practiced for a while with personality traits. We decided to be an excited pair of journalists that wanted to ask the now famous Gaster family what exactly was going on. And to possibly kill Sans if given the opportunity. But luckily, Papyrus, you almost nailed that whole test! The only part that I would mention is that you admitted we were your parents to strangers who clearly wanted to get to Sans." Vrinda says. Papyrus slumps a little. Darn.

"IT'S HARD TO PRETEND WE'RE NOT RELATED… WE ARE LITERALLY THE ONLY SKELETONS FOR HUNDREDS OF MILES MOTHER. WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO SAY, THAT I WAS A HOUSE WATCHER?"

"Anything would do really. Because knowing you're our son could give some bad people the idea to attempt to kill or kidnap you so that they could get to your father and I. Just like Civetta. We don't want a repeat of that, especially not with you sweetie. Your brother's already out and we need you. Do you understand?"

Papyrus nods a little. True. Alright, he'll have to make a note of that so he doesn't mess up again.

"[ANYWAY, NOW THAT WE ATE THOSE DONUTS WITH GLAMOUR MAGIC IN THEM, WE CAN TRANSFORM OURSELVES TO LOOK HUMAN ANY TIME. WE'LL HAVE TO GET YOU AND SANS IN ON THAT. JUST IN CASE. THIS MAGIC IS PRETTY HIDDEN IF EVEN WE DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT IT, SO IT'LL COME AS A SHOCK TO EVERYONE. IF OUR OWN SON DIDN'T RECOGNIZE US IMMEDIATELY, THEN THERE'S NO WAY ANYONE ELSE WILL EVEN CATCH ON.]"

"SO… WHAT'S THE PLAN FOR THESE GLAMOURS?" Papyrus asks. Hearing that he may have to get a glamour makes him feel weird. He doesn't want to know what he looks like as a human…

"[THE PLAN IS, THE THREE OF US GO TO THAT REACTOR AND PRETEND TO WORK THERE. BECAUSE PEOPLE REALLY DO WORK THERE. THE RADIATION CAN'T BE GOOD FOR THEM… BUT WE HAVE TO DO WHAT WE HAVE TO DO.]"

"WAIT, WHY ARE WE GOING TO THE REACTOR? ARE THE DREEMURR'S STATIONED THERE? WHY WOULD THEY STAY IN THE SAME PLACE THAT YOU FOUND THEM IN IF NOT TO AMBUSH US THERE? THEY KNOW WE'LL COME AFTER THEM RIGHT?" Papyrus says. Gaster and Vrinda shake their heads.

"They know that we know they're there. But I think they believe that we would EXPECT them to leave so that we'll look elsewhere. So instead they're going to stay right where they are. Nobody goes near reactor cores unless they work there. The radiation for humans is pretty bad. But there haven't been any physical signs of it hurting monsters. So if we walk into that reactor as humans, the Dreemurr's will never guess that it's us. In fact, they'll probably think us some stupid humans that don't understand the dangers of radiation. We'll be completely off their radar. Sooo all we have to do is pretend to get lost and then we kill whichever Dreemurr we find first. Papyrus, your job will be to find and save the human souls." Vrinda says.

Papyrus looks at his parents amazed. They're being so brazen. Just assuming they can kill one of the Dreemurr's like nothing. Not too long ago, the two were scared that the goats had even dared to come as far as they have into the Gaster's territory.

"I…. I'LL DO MY BEST."

"Good. The human souls won't be on them, they'll likely be in a side room that's heavily guarded and secured. Locks and chains and codes. Those human souls are precious to Asgore and Toriel, so they'll risk being obvious if it means protecting those souls. But Papyrus you're going to get in there, one way or another. I don't care if you teleport inside or kill the ones guarding the door and pick all the locks, but you HAVE to get in there and break all of the containers holding the souls. It might seem like a waste of souls, but either they disappear or they get used to kill thousands of people. So you need to get to the souls right as we begin our executions so they don't have time to absorb any souls. Got it?"

"I'VE GOT IT. THERE ARE FIVE RIGHT?" Papyrus asks. Gaster nods.

"[LAST WE'VE HEARD, YES. BUT IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW MANY THERE ARE. DESTROY THEM ALL. AND ONCE YOU DO THAT…. WELL, WE HAVEN'T QUITE DECIDED WHAT TO DO WITH YOU AFTER THAT.]" Gaster says. Papyrus raises his brows. What does he mean by that?

"[WE HAVE A FEW DIFFERENT OPTIONS FOR YOU. ONCE YOU DESTROY THE SOULS YOU CAN EITHER GO HOME, STICK AROUND AND KEEP THE WORKERS FROM INVESTIGATING, OR YOU CAN COME AND HELP US FIGHT.]"

"WELL, I AM /CERTAINLY/ NOT GOING TO FLEE AND COME HOME!" Papyrus says a bit louder than he wanted to. Gaster nods and looks down at Vrinda.

"[I TOLD YOU HE WOULDN'T GO FOR THAT.]"

"Darn… I knew he wouldn't do it either, but I couldn't NOT give him a way out… Fine fine, how about this Papyrus. When you're done, you can FIRST keep the workers from investigating and when you think it's safe for them, you can THEN come to help us fight… We're going to kill one of them and the other will likely lose it. So…. I guess the more help the better… I just worry, is that so wrong?" Vrinda says with a small pout.

"NO. IT'S NOT. BUT I REFUSE TO LEAVE YOU TWO ALONE WHEN I CAN HELP MORE! THAT'S WHAT ALL THIS TRAINING IS FOR! WHAT'S THE POINT IN TRAINING ME SO HARD IF I'M NOT GOING TO USE IT?" Papyrus says.

Vrinda sighs and nods.

"I knew you'd say that. And I agree. But these two are on a completely different level than people we'd normally be fighting. We're training you especially hard in the event you have to defend yourself or even flee from the Dreemurr's. Fighting them is not recommended for someone as inexperienced as you. And really, that's not an insult, sweetheart. The Dreemurr's are bad news. We've dealt with them for years. They're merciless, ruthless, stone-hearted demons. Papyrus, they weren't torturing Civetta because they were sad about the death of their children and wanted information. They weren't upset that their babies died. They're mad that we took away their best soldiers. And that's IT. They know that your dad and I care very deeply for people in our circle and they know that the quickest and best way to hurt us is to hurt you and Sans. Didn't you see how glad Toriel was to hear that Sans had been killed?"

Papyrus listens sadly. Really? They're not actually upset over the death of their children?... And wait a second… Maybe that's why they took Chara in. They saw that he had a strong soul and thought they could use him to make their ranks stronger. They never loved him... Not in the real way.

"I UNDERSTAND," Papyrus says.

He looks down at his big brother and can't imagine only thinking of him as a weapon. Not loving him or his parents... What a sad pathetic existence to not know love... He wonders if something happened to Asgore and Toriel in their younger years. Or maybe they were born being terrible people. Do they even love each other?

"[SO WE'LL GET YOU A GLAMOUR AND TRAIN YOU TO USE IT. THEN IN A WEEK WE'RE GOING TO CARRY THE PLAN OUT. I'LL GET US A MAP OF THE PLACE TO MAKE IT EASIER. SO FOR NOW WE'LL GO TRAIN IN THE HANGAR.]" Gaster says.

"[YOU HAVE TO ACTUALLY /DODGE/ THE BULLETS TODAY, PAPYRUS.]" He says. Papyrus squints at his father playfully.

"THAT WAS ONE TIME."

"[NO, IT WAS APPROXIMATELY 3628 TIMES ACTUALLY.]" Gaster looks at his hands, pretending to look at nails he doesn't have. Vrinda snickers and slowly looks at Pap.

"Oooooh.~~ Are you going to let him talk to you like that Papyrus?" Vrinda says. Papyrus stands up.

"CERTAINLY NOT. ALLOW ME TO PROVE THAT I'M NOT INCOMPETENT. BULLETS WILL BE NOTHING TO ME, THE GREAT PAPYRUS!"

"[IF YOU SAY SO. ALRIGHT HURRY AND WRITE YOUR NOTE TO SANS SO THAT I CAN SHOOT YOU A BIT MORE.]" The boys look at each other with competitive sparks and grins...until Papyrus steps down and reaches over to a note pad that's on the end table by Sans' bed. He quickly writes down how he's going to show their father what for and that they'll be back later. The three teleport away and let the training begin.

()

Three days later. January 16th.

It's a pretty nice day out. Warm enough to go out without a huge coat. Even the humans are able to let one of their four layers of clothing go.

It's glamour day. The family heads out to see Muffet.

"THIS IS GOING TO BE WEIRD... PRETENDING TO BE SOMEONE WE'RE NOT?"

"[WE'RE NOT DOING THIS FOR FUN PAPYRUS.]" Gaster says. Vrinda raises her hand.

"A LITTLE bit of fun."

Fun… Papyrus still feels weird doing things without Sans. Things are only half as fun without his brother... But he's got to wake up soon. So Papyrus takes solace in the fact that he can prank Sans eventually by looking different.

Once inside the bakery, the line is pretty big. Ever since the fight with Asriel, Muffet has been pretty popular. Her pet, as it turns out, was a great attraction. The family gets in line and while the people that knew them before stay quiet and relaxed, the new people are eager to get their attention, waving and saying hi. Gaster and Vrinda indulge the people and wave back with smiles. Papyrus decides he'd better follow suit and waves at anyone that waves to him first. Now he knows why his parents kept it a secret for so long. Papyrus feels so exposed. Everyone is staring at them and ogling at them... Maybe this glamour thing is a good idea after all so they can walk around without having a ton of people staring…They get to the front of the line finally and Gaster tries to make this quick and inconspicuous.

"[THE USUAL. AND-]"

"I know," Muffet says. She gathers the order up, minus one for Sans... and then boxes it all up nicely. Gaster gets his wallet out of his back pocket and pays double. Muffet happily takes it.

"Have a nice day. And a helpful tip. Avoid the plaza if you want any peace and quiet. EVERYONE is looking to get their hands on you." She says. Papyrus is pretty sure that's code... It's not good either. Gaster nods.

"[THANKS. I'LL KEEP THAT IN MIND. HOW ARE THINGS GOING BY THE WAY?]" Gaster asks now. Papyrus listens very carefully.

"It's alright. I can't get enough of this amazing business! But... there's been an infestation of rats around recently. They're riddled with disease. They should be killed on sight," Muffet says, her eight eyes blinking in a pattern. Papyrus wonders if her blinks are code too. It wouldn't surprise him at this point. Gaster and Vrinda keep up their act and nod.

"Thanks for telling us. We can't have rats running around the place." Vrinda says.

The three leave, waving to more people and then going to the usual corner they always turn at after leaving Muffet's. Gaster teleports them all home.

"Damn. A whole bunch of them she said. I really shouldn't be shocked..." Vrinda says.

"WAIT, SO MUFFET SAID... THAT THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE AROUND TOWN THAT ARE BAD?" Papyrus asks. The parents nod and head into the kitchen, putting the box down and opening it.

"Yeah. Civetta called Toriel a rat, so that's the code name we've all picked for her and Asgore. So now people that are working for them are all around town, watching us. But we figured this would happen. These glamours are going to come in handy for more than just the mission it looks like." Vrinda says. The three sit down and grab their donuts.

"[AS EXPECTED. ANYWAY, PAPYRUS, ARE YOU READY?]" Gaster says, looking over at Papyrus and takes a bite of his donut. Papyrus looks down at his and sighs.

"I SUPPOSE SO…" With a sigh, Papyrus takes a bite of his pastry. He can't be too bothered right now though because the pastry is SOOOO good! Nothing happens after the first bite. So he continues to eat.

"IS IT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN IMMEDIATELY OR…?" Papyrus starts.

"Just give it a second," Vrinda says with a wave as she eats her lemon donut.

"HM… I DON'T FEEL ANYTHI—" Suddenly Papyrus' bones feel warm. He looks down at his hands and sees the glitching image of a person's flesh appearing on his body. It's quick and painless, but it feels weird and Papyrus ABSOLUTELY doesn't like the feeling at all. He feels something tickling his…. Nose?

Papyrus looks down his… his human nose! He puts his hands to the sides of his head and feels ears. And hair.

"AH!" He shouts, looking down at his human hands.

"I—I THOROUGHLY DISLIKE THIS FEELING!" Papyrus says. He looks up at his parents and the two look at him shocked. His voice has changed a little too. A slight bit deeper. NOW he knows why he couldn't recognize the voices of his parents when they had their glamours on. It changes the voice a little too!

"Whooaa. Papyrus your hair!" Vrinda says, smile growing wide. She reaches over and ruffles it. Papyrus runs his hands through his hair… It doesn't feel quite like real human hair, but it's close enough he thinks.

"I-I CAN'T SEE IT." Papyrus says. Gaster smiles and stands up.

"[LET'S GO TAKE A LOOK AT YOU IN YOUR MOTHER'S VANITY.]" He says. The family walks out of the kitchen and to the left down the hall to the bedroom and on the back wall is a rather large dark red stained wood vanity. Six drawers and random things strewn about. Peroxide to keep her skull clean, some cloths, a revolver, and some bullets, and a few ties that are lined up like she was trying to pick which one to wear.

Papyrus goes over to the mirror and takes a look at himself. His skin is a dark bronze color and his hair shaved on either side, brown, but on top is a mess of wavy blond hair. It's almost white like Gaster's, but just blond enough to look mostly like Vrinda's hair. His eyes are a light brown that he doesn't recall ever seeing on an actual human before. His cheekbones are still pretty obvious, but not at all unattractive.

"OH MY… THIS IS… HM." Papyrus stands up straight and moves his head side to side and begins to like it a little more.

"YOU KNOW, THIS ISN'T BAD. THAT WARM FEELING IS BOTHERSOME, BUT I AM NOT HATING THIS!" Pap says. Gaster chuckles, and then looks down at Vrinda and sees that the whites of her eyes have turned to stars.

"Papyrus, you'll have to fend off the human ladies with a bat if you want to survive!" Vrinda says excitedly and snickers.

"You're just as handsome as your father!~"

"HEHE. I CAN'T WAIT TO SPOOK SANS WITH THIS SOME TIME! CAN WE KEEP THIS A SECRET UNTIL I DO IT?" Papyrus says, turning around with a huge smile.

"[HEHE, POOR SANS. BUT I SUPPOSE I WON'T STOP YOU. IT'LL KEEP HIM ON HIS TOES.]" Gaster says with a nod and a hand to his chin.

"I wonder if getting glasses would make us look even more different. Monsters don't really need glasses so it'd be more convincing." Vrinda says. Papyrus thinks suddenly and raises a hand.

"WELL WHAT ABOUT CIVETTA? AND GRILLBY?"

"Their glasses are for looks. Monster eyesight is usually dictated by their magic. The only reason they're vision would be bad for a while is if something physically traumatic happened that damaged their max HP. Like me. When I woke up after being out for four days, my sight was very blurry and I couldn't see any of you boys for several minutes even though you were right in front of me. Even after it was mostly fine there were still bits far away that were blurry." Vrinda says. Papyrus rubs his weird feeling chin and nods. He assumes Sans will go through the same thing. Interesting. He'll have to be sure to announce his presence once Sans wakes up so he doesn't freak him out.

"I SEE... SPEAKING OF CIVETTA, IS SHE DOING ANY BETTER?" Pap asks. Gaster and Vrinda don't look so confident suddenly. Gaster looks like he's trying to find the right words.

"[SHE'S…. ADJUSTING. I THINK YOU SHOULD STAY HERE WHEN WE VISIT HER.]" Gaster says. Papyrus' eyes widen a little... So she's not doing well. He slumps a little... Maybe he can do SOMETHING for her. He can't let this go without doing something to make her feel a little better...

"[BUT IT'S BEST NOT TO GET CAUGHT UP IN BEING SAD. I GOT THE MAP LAYOUT OF THE REACTOR WERE GOING TO. SO NOW WE CAN TALK ABOUT WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO ONE WE GET THERE.]"

"WAIT, HOW DO I GO BACK TO BEING ME?" Papyrus says with slight worry. Gaster looks at an ornate silver clock with vines, thorns, and roses on the wall.

"[YOU WAIT. FOR ONE HOUR. THEN IT'LL WEAR OFF. THAT ALSO MEANS WE HAVE TO GET THIS MISSION OVER WITHIN AN HOUR. SO WE HAVE NO TIME AT ALL TO WASTE IN THAT PLACE...]" Gaster says. A large map appears on the wall suddenly. He walks over to it, followed by Vrinda and Pap.

"[WE'LL GO THROUGH THE FRONT GATE HERE. I'LL BE PRETENDING TO BE AN OVERLY HAPPY SCIENTIST. VRINDA, YOU'LL BE A BORED ENGINEER. PAPYRUS YOU'LL BE ONE OF THE HUMANS WORKING ON THE REACTOR CORE WHO IS SLEEPY.]" Gaster says. Papyrus raises his hand to ask why on earth they're such specific things, but his dad continues talking and not at all paying attention to him or Vrinda.

"[THIS ROOM RIGHT HERE IS WHERE I BELIEVE THE SOULS ARE. BUT I THINK IT'LL BE OBVIOUS ONCE YOU GET DOWN THERE. THERE ARE EIGHT SIDE ROOMS, BUT ONLY ONE OR TWO SHOULD BE HEAVILY GUARDED. BE CAREFUL OF TRIP WIRES. THEY'RE BOUND TO BE EVERYWHERE. IF YOU TRIP ONE, THEY'LL ALL GO OFF. AND NEEDLES, KNIVES, DARTS OR EVEN SWORDS COULD BE FLUNG AT YOU. SOME MAY EVEN HAVE HP DRAINING GASSES... IT'S AN EXTREMELY LOW TACTIC TO USE, BUT ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE WITH THESE PEOPLE.]" Gaster explains.

As Gaster continues to explain, Papyrus can hear in his tone that the Dreemurr's seem to have done some dishonorable and low things to him and his mother in the past. He wonders why his parents have managed to stay above it all and not get down on the Dreemurr's levels. If they're cheating then why don't his parents cheat right back? Wouldn't it surprise Asgore and Toriel if Gaster and Vrinda one day decided to pull a lowly move?

Pap takes a step back in his own mind... Two years ago he couldn't picture himself even hurting a fly or playing unfairly. The rules meant everything to him so he could be a good person and citizen. But now here he is, a killer and a schemer... He wonders if this is how Sans felt. If this is one reason he thought he was dirty and tainted compared to Papyrus...

Well, if that's so, then... Papyrus will catch up. If protecting his family, friends and the city that looks to them for protection gets him dirty and taints him, then he'll jump head first into darkness with his mafia family.

()

An hour later, Papyrus' glamour wears off and the human flesh goes away, leaving his boney body as it should be.

"FINALLY," Papyrus says and feels his head and neck and hands as they should be.

"There's my skele baby." Vrinda says and stands on her toes to kiss his cheekbone with a clack.

"[AAAND THAT'S THE WHOLE PLAN... HEY, WERE EITHER OF YOU PAYING ANY ATTENTION TO ME?]" Gaster says turning around and folding his arms.

"I tuned out half an hour ago. Sorry." Vrinda says boredly with a shrug. Gaster squints a little at her and she giggles.

"I'm just kidding!"

"[I CERTAINLY HOPE SO. PAPYRUS WHAT ABOUT YOU?]"

"I GOT THE WHOLE THING! UNLIKE /SOME/ PEOPLE, I WAS LISTENING EXTREMELY CLOSE TO EVERYTHING YOU HAD TO SAY!" Papyrus says eyeing Vrinda jokingly.

"Aw come on!" Vrinda says playfully throwing her arms in the air. Gaster sighs and shakes his head.

"[I GUESS YOU'RE BOTH DISMISSED. CLEARLY, MY MONOTONOUS VOICE HAS BORED YOU TWO SO MUCH THAT YOU CAN'T HOLD BACK YOUR SILLINESS ANY LONGER. OFF YOU GO THEN. GO FROLIC IN THE HALLS IF IT PLEASES YOU.]" Gaster says with a dismissive wave of his hand. Vrinda hums a little and goes over to him and hugs him around the waist.

"Aw, sorry honey. You have to admit though, you ramble. Mostly to yourself too." Vrinda stands on her tippy toes and tries to give him a smooch. Gaster teases her and leans away just enough so she can't reach him.

"Noooo get back down here you beanstalk!" Vrinda says and makes kissy noises. It's clear on Gaster's face that he's doing his absolute best to keep himself from giving into his wife. Papyrus gives him a look. It's the "just let her smooch you" look. He slips out quietly just as Gaster finally sighs dramatically and hugs Vrinda and many clacking kisses happen. Papyrus rolls his eyes with a smile. He goes down to Sans' room and he can hear the two laughing and doing their silly dancing that they like to do, boney feet clicking on the hardwood floors.

"HEY SANS, ARE YOU AWAKE YET? MOM AND DAD ARE GOING TO BE GROSS, I JUST KNOW IT. YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME HERE ALONE LIKE THIS." Papyrus says, peeking in on his brother. Still nothing.

"YOU CAN'T STAY ASLEEP FOREVER BROTHER. FATHER SAID SO. ANYWAY, WHEN YOU WAKE UP I'M GOING TO SCARE YOU… TO THE /BONE./" He says. Making jokes seems to only make him sad. Without his brother to tell him 'good one, bro' or anything, it's less fun.

"HURRY AND WAKE UP SANS… I DON'T HAVE A GOOD FEELING." Papyrus goes and sits on the chair next to Sans and takes his limp hand.

"AND BESIDES, THINGS AREN'T AS FUN WITHOUT YOU. BEING AN ONLY CHILD SUCKS, BROTHER…. YOU KNOW, I SWEAR IF YOU WERE AWAKE YOU'D BE SAYING 'YOU'RE NOT A CHILD SO IT DOESN'T MATTER' RIGHT?" He sighs and plays with Sans' fingers.

One of them twitches. Papyrus' sockets go huge.

"SANS?... DID… YOU JUST…" He stares at Sans and holds perfectly still. The white soul covered in a thin layer of orange magic in Sans' ribs seems to beat harder.

"YOU'RE… TRYING TO WAKE UP? M-MOTHER! FATHER!" Papyrus shouts, not daring to look away. He can hear two pairs of feet pad down the hall and the two of them nearly crash into the door frame.

"What's going on Papyrus?" Vrinda says, walking in first, but only barely with Gaster at her side.

"LOOK! LOOK LOOK! I-I WAS TALKING TO HIM AND HIS FINGER MOVED! AND THEN HIS SOUL! HIS SOUL STARTED TO PULSE HARDER! HE'S TRYING TO WAKE UP!" Papyrus says with absolute glee. The parents quickly crowd Sans and Gaster gets closer to examine Sans' soul.

"[YOU'RE RIGHT, LOOK AT IT… THAT'S AMAZING. SANS, CAN YOU PERHAPS HEAR US?]"

"No no wait, we don't want to force him, it might be too much on him," Vrinda says, constantly looking between the soul and Sans' HP.

"Sans honey, we know you want to wake up, you're probably bored stiff lying in that bed for so long, but really, if you need more time then take it! I promise that you'll wake up for real in a few days! R-Right Gaster?" She says, looking at her husband.

"[THAT'S RIGHT SON. SO JUST ALLOW YOURSELF TO WAKE UP NATURALLY OKAY? YOU'RE SAFE AND WE'VE GOT YOU, ALRIGHT?]" Gaster says. Everyone stares at Sans for a long time. The hard pulsing of Sans' soul relaxes finally.

The three look at each other and their smiles grow slowly. They were able to communicate with Sans FINALLY after such a long time! It looks like Gaster will be right. Sans will wake up in just a few days.

"I can't believe this. Can he REALLY hear us? I couldn't hear anything when I was asleep. B-But maybe it's because his situation is a lot more serious than mine was. Maybe his mind is working but his body isn't just yet." Vrinda says.

"[I AGREE. HE WOULDN'T HAVE REACTED THAT WAY IF HE COULDN'T HEAR US. GOOD… HE'LL WAKE UP IN A FEW DAYS THEN. THIS IS FANTASTIC!]" Gaster says. The parents look at each other and smile. They look over at Papyrus… who has huge tears coming from his sockets.

He's just so happy… His brother finally did something to let them all know he wasn't dead. Sans didn't "fall" and was just waiting for Chara's determination to run out. He was alive the whole time. Papyrus really did truly save him. Papyrus does his best to hold the noises his body wants to make and covers his eyes with his sleeve. He knows that if he talks, his voice will crack. So he stays quiet and cries into his arm. From his side, he feels Gaster hug him and cradle his head in his hands.

There's nothing really to say. The emotions are clear. So Gaster just holds him tightly and lets Papyrus cry.

The family sleep in Sans' room that night.


	13. Chapter 12

January 19th 1951

Finally. The day is here. The mission to kill the Dreemurr's.

The Gaster's wake up early at 5:30 AM

"I think we should check on everyone before we glamour up and head out," Vrinda says getting on her human clothes over her regular black paint suit and yellow shirt. Gaster simply gets the new outfit on, turtleneck and suit with a large black wool coat.

"[I AGREE. I'D LIKE TO SEE HOW CIVETTA AND MUFFET ARE FARING. HOPEFULLY A BIT BETTER.]"

Papyrus gets on a typical suit and puts on a rather heavy wool coat.

"DO YOU THINK CIVETTA WILL BE ALRIGHT WITH ME COMING OVER?... YOU SAID THAT LAST TIME I SHOULD STAY HOME WHILE YOU TWO VISITED HER." Papyrus says tightening his tie. He messes it up though, distracted and nervous for the mission.

Gaster looks over and notices. He walks over and moves Pap's hands out of the way and starts to fix his tie.

"[I THINK SHE'LL BE FINE… BUT IF NOT, THEN WE'LL JUST GIVE HER A BIT MORE TIME. TRY NOT TO TAKE ANYTHING PERSONALLY IF SHE SAYS ANYTHING, SON.]" He says. The tie is fixed and Gaster gives Papyrus' chest a pat.

"[ARE YOU NERVOUS, PAPYRUS?]" Gaster asks. Papyrus nods and looks down a little.

"WELL… YEAH. YOU AND MOTHER REACT PRETTY SEVERELY EVEN TALKING ABOUT THE DREEMURR'S. AND BEING FACE TO FACE WITH HIM A COUPLE DAYS WAS…" Papyrus pauses. He doesn't want to admit that he was scared of him… but Gaster pats his shoulder.

"[SCARY. OF COURSE IT WAS. HE'S VERY HUGE. AND VERY STRONG. BUT YOU WON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH HIM OR TORIEL IF YOU'RE LUCKY. DON'T FORGET, YOU STILL HAVE THE OPTION TO LEAVE ONCE YOU DESTROY THE SOULS.]"

"I WILL /NOT/ RUN AWAY," Papyrus says, looking up at his father a bit. Gaster smiles.

"[YOU'RE ALLOWED TO. YOU'VE LEARNED THAT SOMETIMES IT'S BEST TO RUN. BUT AS LONG AS YOU STICK TO THE PARAMETERS OF THE PLAN THEN I'M ALRIGHT WITH ANYTHING YOU DO.]"

The two stare at each other for a few extra seconds and then nod.

"Alright boys, enough chit chat. We have to get to that bus in an hour. No time to waste." Vrinda says.

The first part of the plan is to actually GET to the reactor in New York by 8:00 in the morning. They're going to take a bus with other new people who are going to work at the reactors. They've taken some of the names of workers who have died and their deaths have yet to be announced. Papyrus isn't sure how his parents got a hold of such information, but whatever gets them in he supposes.

"[YOU'RE RIGHT YOU'RE RIGHT. ALRIGHT, TO MUFFET FIRST SINCE SHE'S CLOSER.]" Gaster says. The three get together and Gaster teleports them all. Papyrus loves watching reality rip itself apart in Gaster's magic. It's interesting the way it frays differently every time. And when it reverses to UN-tear itself. They reappear in the alley they always turn in and then walk out. Muffet's store is already halfway rebuilt. No doubt she got a lot of help from her spiders. In fact, she's standing outside instructing builders on what to do, ever being a bossy woman. She looks fine, but Papyrus still remembers how she couldn't use her bottom arms when he left…

Muffet turns around to see the family.

"Well hello everyone. Thank you for your donation. It was very helpful." She says with a smile.

"Of course Muffet. And I know you don't want to hear it, but thank you for what you did. For everything." Vrinda says. Muffet's face relaxes a little.

"Not a problem… It seems I'm no longer neutral. And you know what my dearies? I feel better knowing that I'm aligned with a side." She says. Vrinda and Gaster look pretty surprised. Papyrus too. It's only been a little while since he's REALLY known the spider woman, but it's still amazing to see this sort of change.

"I would do it all again in a heartbeat for you all." Muffet finishes. She gives the family a little curtsy.

"Muffet… We'll do our best to keep up our end of the bargain." Vrinda says with a huge smile.

"UHM, MUFFET?... HOW ARE…" Papyrus begins. He's not sure if asking about her arms is rude or something… Muffet lifts all six arms and wiggles them around.

"They're doing pretty well. My spiders are helping me so much. I won't need their help at all soon though. Don't worry about me."

Pap notices she's still got her wounds from being thrown around and roughhoused… Cuts on her face and all around her arms… He's so glad he showed up in time to save her other limbs.

"But I hear you're all busy today. So please don't be late for your appointment on my behalf." Muffet's sly smile returns. The skeletons chuckle a little and nod.

"Please be careful." She warns before they all leave.

()

Vrinda teleports them all this time. Glitter falls from the sky in a cylinder around them and begins to replace the image of the snowy streets. Papyrus loves it. It's so pretty and he thinks it fits his mother.

They reappear on the inside of a condo hallway.

"[I HOPE SHE'LL LET US IN.]" Gaster says to himself. But Papyrus heard it of course. They walk down the hall and Gaster leads them to the door that belongs to Civetta and knocks.

"[CIVETTA? MIGHT WE COME IN?]" Gaster calls. Silence for a second and then what sounds to be two pairs of feet shuffling around. Gaster looks over at Vrinda who looks back at him equally confused. Who could be in there?

"Yes!" Civetta calls back. Gaster opens the door and the three peek in slowly to see…. Civetta sitting up in bed looking very happy and pleased…

And a large gray owl standing beside her bed. The family stops dead in their tracks and look at the owl man.

"G…Gabriel?..." Vrinda says in nearly a whisper with huge sockets. Papyrus looks at her quickly…. And then up again at Gaster who has the same shocked look on his face. Who the hell is Gabriel? He's never heard of this man before.

The large owl man looks at the two with almost as much shock.

"Wow. You two sure look… different. But the same. How'd you manage that?" He says with a big beaky smile. Gaster and Vrinda both rush forward and hug the large man. Gabriel wraps his wings around them and squishes them so tightly they nearly disappear in his down feathers.

Civetta looks over at Papyrus who is still very confused. She smiles at him.

"It's okay Papyrus. He's with me." Civetta says. Papyrus looks at her and notices her left eye has healed over pretty well so far. And her feathers have begun to return. He didn't know bird feathers grew back. Do they?... Better not to question it.

Papyrus relaxes a little. If his parents know this man then he can't be so bad… He looks weirdly similar to Civetta… Who is he?

"[GABRIEL! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S YOU! WE THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!]" Gaster says, finally being set down with Vrinda onto their feet.

"Where have you been?! How have you been doing? It's been thirty years since we've seen you! Oh my god, I'm so glad you're alive!" Vrinda says, jumping back up into Gabriel's arms, swinging her boney limbs around his neck fluff. Gabriel just hugs her back tightly.

"I'll give you the short version. I escaped. And so did the others. All of us are alive." Gabriel says. Gaster and Vrinda gasp loudly and look at each other with wide eyes. They both look at Civetta quickly. Civetta just sits there and appears to be holding back the happiest tears ever.

"You two look older. It's weird. But there's a new face over there that I don't know. He looks like Grandpa Semi though." Gabriel says, eyeing Papyrus. Papyrus can't help but flinch a little. The eyes of a wary predator stare into him. B-But he's sure it's just the shape of his face…

"Oh! Papyrus! Come here! Gabriel is Civetta's twin brother! We used to play with Civetta and all of her siblings as kids!" Vrinda says. Papyrus can't help but think this is the happiest he's seen his mom in a while. He walks over and holds his hand out.

"HELLO THERE, I'M PAPYRUS GASTER. IT'S NICE TO MEET YOU." Papyrus says. Gabriel shakes his hand with a large claw.

"Say what? You're…" Gabriel looks at Papyrus and then stares at Vrinda and Gaster. He squints at them a little. Vrinda suddenly gets a huge shit-eating smirk on her face. She holds up her left hand and upon the fourth finger is a ring.

"Vrinda Gaster, not at your service," Vrinda says. Gabriel looks at the two with huge eyes, not yet letting go of Papyrus' nervous hand.

"You two ACTUALLY got married? And had A KID?" Gabriel says, genuinely stunned. Vrinda snickers and puts the back of her hand over her mouth.

"[TWO OF THEM ACTUALLY.]" Gaster corrects.

"What?" Gabriel looks at Papyrus and stares.

"Whoa. So you look like Grandpa Semi for a reason…. I can't believe you even exist, to be honest, kid. These two used to beat the shit out of each other daily. Like, literally every day they'd fight." Gabriel says. Papyrus slowly looks at his parents and can't believe what he's hearing. His almost disgustingly loving, romantic, inseparable parents used to BEAT EACH OTHER UP EVERY DAY?

Gaster and Vrinda avoid eye contact and look at opposite sides of the room.

"And now to hear they're both married and have TWO kids? Wow. Well, nice to meet you Papyrus. Where's the other one?" Gabriel asks, finally releasing Pap's hand. Papyrus looks at his parents and waits for them to explain. If it were HIM, he would keep up the façade that Sans is dead.

"[HE'S NOT BEEN FEELING VERY WELL LATELY. BUT I HAVE A FEELING HE'LL RECOVER SOON. HIS NAME IS COMIC SANS GASTER.]" Gaster says. Papyrus hears Sans' full name so rarely that he forgot what it even was. He doesn't hear his full name used either, Papyrus EF. Gaster. Luckily…

"Comic Sans Gaster and Papyrus Gaster. Huh. That's amazing. Well, I hope when Sans feels better I can meet him." Gabriel says.

"I hope the others can come by too so we can have a get-together! But Gabe, tell us how you're here!" Vrinda says. Gabriel looks behind him and plops down on Civetta's bed, indicating it'll probably be a long story. The Gaster family sit down in random chairs and couches as well.

"Well, I saw parts of that shitty broadcast the Dreemurr's were airing… At first, I heard parts of it on the radio. When that bitch said Civetta's name and heard her respond with her usual sass… I was happy to hear she was alive, but I was so scared that she was being hurt. And I wasn't there to protect her… AGAIN. So I rushed to a TV and saw other parts. And I saw the end. Someone that Toriel was on the line with completely made a fool of her and somehow teleported Civetta out of there! It was so amazing to see. People who were all watching the TV's in the stores were yelling and cheering. Teleportation can only work for so many miles so I sorta… guessed where she was. I screeched all over the damn place for her. And finally, I heard her call back." Gabriel says, taking a look over at his sister. The two hold claws tightly. Civetta adjusts herself to scoot closer to Gabriel and leans forward a little.

"And then he just landed right on my balcony yesterday morning. I couldn't believe it. I damn near fell out of bed trying to get up and tackle him." Civetta laughs a little.

Papyrus looks at the time. 6:00 AM. They've got time to blow. He watches his parents and his owl friend and her brother talk up a storm. They all met when they were five years old and played together ever since. Right up until the owl family moved to the next town over. Gaster and Vrinda would sneak off and run to the other village to play with the six owl kids. Papyrus can't believe how many siblings Civetta had. She never mentioned them. Ever. And neither did his own parents. Was it really too painful to talk about?... He wonders if Sans had died, would he really be able to talk about it as if it were part of normal conversation… Probably not.

6:30 AM. Papyrus is sure to look at the time pretty frequently. But hopefully not often enough to make it seem like he wants to leave. He doesn't WANT to leave of course.

"So what do you two skull punks do for a living these days?" Gabriel asks. Gaster and Vrinda sorta look at Civetta. SHOULD they tell him?... Civetta nods pretty readily. It worries Papyrus. What if Gabriel is working for someone who is against their family? Or a double agent or something?

"Well uh… that voice you heard Toriel talking to during the broadcast? It was Gaster." Vrinda says, patting her husband's leg. Gabriel's eyes widen significantly. Papyrus wonders how he can even do that…. They're already so damn huge.

"Wait… you're joking, right? That was really you G?... So YOU guys saved my sister from those maniacs?"

"[YES. WE ONLY WISH WE'D BEEN ABLE TO DO IT SOONER… WE'RE A MAFIA FAMILY GABRIEL. SOOO I NEED TO ASK THAT YOU NOT TELL ANYONE YOU'RE ASSOCIATED WITH US. OR EVEN CIVETTA FOR NOW. TODAY IS A PRETTY IMPORTANT DAY. FOR US AND FOR THE DREEMURR'S.]" Gaster says.

"Is… that so?" Gabriel asks, seeming to catch Gaster's drift. "So what are you going to do?... Whack 'em?"

Vrinda snickers. "Nobody says 'whack' anymore Gabe," she says. Gabriel looks between his friends quickly.

"Wait so you're SERIOUSLY FOR REAL in the Mafia and you're literally leaving to go mess up the Dreemurr's today?" He asks in awe. Gaster and Vrinda nod.

"[THAT'S RIGHT. WE'RE PLANNING ON KILLING THEM. EVEN IF IT'S JUST ONE OF THEM, THAT'LL BE A HUGE HELP. THEY'VE BROUGHT A WAR TO OUR TOWN AND TO OUR PEOPLE. TO OUR FAMILY.]" Gaster says, giving Civetta and Papyrus both looks. Gabriel follows his eyes carefully.

"[AND NOW WE'RE GOING TO RETURN THE FAVOR.]"

"Uuhh… aren't they boss monsters? With human souls?" Gabriel says. Papyrus leans in a little.

"WHY DO YOU SAY THEY'RE COLLECTING SOULS?" Papyrus says. Gabe gives him a confused look.

"It's all anyone talks about down in Delaware where I was before this. Those jerks pretty much run everything where I live. The big rumor was that they were killing humans, kids mostly, with strong human souls and taking them for themselves. And honestly, I believe it. Those two are nuts and they're planning something awful, I just know it… And after what they did to my baby sister, I hope you crush th—"

"Excuse me, but YOU'RE the baby. I hatched five minutes before you." Civetta says, poking Gabe with one of her claws.

"Uh, no, YOU'RE the baby because I'M the one that hatched five minutes before YOU. Jeez, even as kids you'd lie to them about who was older, Civetta." Gabriel says giving her a small bored glare.

"[ACTUALLY, YOUR MOTHER SAID YOU HATCHED AT THE SAME TIME. THAT'S WHY SHE CALLED YOU TWO TWINS.]" Gaster says, raising a hand. Civetta and Gabriel look over at him.

"She did?" The two owls say together. Gaster and Vrinda nod together confidently and then the owls look at each other. It looks like neither of them will give up the position of "older sibling."

"UHM… I HATE TO BE A PARTY POOPER EVERYONE BUT UH…" Papyrus looks at the clock again. The Gaster's look up together and Vrinda gasps. 6:30 AM.

"Oh my god, we're going to be late for the damn bus!" She stands up quickly. Gaster stands up relaxed and stretches.

"[DON'T PANIC. I COULD GET US THERE QUICKLY.]" He says.

"Yeah, but I don't want you wasting any magic that we'll need later. We need all the magic we can get babe." Vrinda says.

Gabriel looks at the two and still can't believe they're TOGETHER… Ah, maybe that's not entirely true… Part of him as a kid thought they'd fight for the rest of their lives. But another part of him thought that maybe they'd get together. At LEAST for a little bit. Married though? "BABE?" He never thought he'd see the day.

"So that means you guys have to go right?" Gabe says, standing up. "Give them a few vicious slices for me if you can."

"[OH, WE'LL BE GETTING A SLICE IN FOR EVERYONE. I'LL BE SURE WE GET IN A FEW FOR YOU.]" Gaster says. Everyone hugs tightly and then separate.

"If the others can't come here, then maybe you guys should come to Delaware. The five of us live over there in the same building." Gabe says. Vrinda taps her chin…

"We'll talk about it later. Wish us luck with our mission. I have a feeling we'll need it." She says.

"Good luck!" Civetta and Gabriel say at the same time in the same exact way. Papyrus is mildly impressed. He wonders if he and Sans ever do that. If they have he didn't notice.

"[WE'LL SEE YOU TWO IN A DAY OR SO PROBABLY. GABE, I'M SURE I DON'T HAVE TO TELL YOU, BUT PLEASE TAKE CARE OF CIVETTA WHILE WE'RE GONE.]" Gaster says. Gabriel pats Gaster on the shoulder a little too hard.

"You're right, you don't need to tell me. She'll be back to mostly normal before you even get back."

"[I SURE HOPE SO.]"

"We'll see you later you two!" Vrinda says, the family heading to the door.

"Yeah. Nice to meet you too Papyrus." Gabe says. Papyrus waves back and is the first to get out of the door, followed by Vrinda and then Gaster.

The door closes and Gaster teleports the three of them to an abandoned factory warehouse.

"[PHEW. ALRIGHT. GLAMOUR TIME GUYS. THEN WE WALK OUT OF HERE AND TO THE BUS STOP WITH THE OTHERS. REMEMBER YOUR NAMES AND POSITIONS? SINCE YOU TWO WERE /CLEARLY/ PAYING ATTENTION DURING ME EXPLAINING THE PLAN.]" Gaster says jokingly.

"You sure do hold a grudge," Vrinda says after a snicker.

"I'm a bored engineer named Lucy Morette."

"I AM A SLEEPY REACTOR WORKER, FIXING ODDS AND ENDS AND DOING MAINTENANCE. MY NAME IS ALLAN LOCKE." Papyrus says. Gaster nods.

"[AND I'M AN OVERLY HAPPY SCIENTIST NAMED JOHN LENNOX. JUST STICK TO THE PLAN AND EVERYTHING SHOULD GO SMOOTHLY.]" Gaster says.

The three of them transform into their human glamours and they fill in their outfits nicely.

"[TO THE BUS THEN. DON'T SIT NEXT TO EACH OTHER.]" Gaster says and teleports the three of them a little closer to the bus stop. He walks forward first. There's already a group sitting at the bus. Twenty four including the Gaster's. These people are also going to the reactor. A man shows up after Gaster and then Vrinda goes. Papyrus follows soon after, seeing one last person walking to the group with him. Papyrus is sure to yawn a few times to make sure everyone knows he's tired and laid back. Vrinda sighs and looks bored, but Gaster is sure to wear a big happy smile and look at the group excitedly.

"So how is everyone? Are we all ready to be super productive at work?" Gaster says. Some people look at him and wish he'd be quiet. It's too early for noise. But some others smile at him and two even respond positively to him.

7:00 AM and the bus finally comes after being bored at the bus stop for half an hour. Everyone boards and Gaster takes a front seat. Vrinda takes a middle seat and Papyrus takes a seat all the way in the back so he can easily pretend to sleep.

The bus takes off and it takes 45 minutes to get to the reactor. The scenery is nice anyway. No-one talks to each other or anything. Papyrus doesn't like it. It's too spooky.

Eventually, the tall weirdly shaped cylindrical rector comes into view. There are a couple guys outside waiting for the bus. Once it stops and everyone exits, everyone stands in a row in front of the men. They conduct roll call and the family responds appropriately. Everyone is escorted inside. It's HUGE. If what Papyrus is seeing is only one floor... well he just hopes he'll be able to get down to the last basement floor and actually FIND the damn rooms he needs to get to.

"Alright, get into your groups and get to work." The first human man says and then leaves. Everyone disperses. Vrinda comes towards Papyrus' group since they do nearly the same thing.

"Alright new guys." One man says to the group. He eyes Vrinda, a little confused that a beautiful woman was allowed to work in a place like this. Papyrus wonders if his dad would get upset if he saw someone eyeing his wife...

"You'll all be going down to the second floor. But you guys should probably change. Seriously, not one of you had overalls or SOMETHING?" The human man says with irritation. Papyrus looks at the group and it's true, not one of them is wearing overalls.

"Jeez. To your right, there's a room where we keep the outfits and uniforms and stuff. Hurry up and go change you guys." He says. Everyone starts to walk towards the room, but the man grabs Vrinda's wrist.

"Not you though." He says. Papyrus worries a little… but only for a second. He's well aware that he mom can take care of herself.

"You should change over there. I'll get you an outfit." The man goes with the rest of the group and quickly snags an outfit then runs back to her.

"Here you go, little missy." He says. Vrinda smiles at him and waves at him cutely with her left hand, sure to show off the ring.

"Thank you, what EVER would I have done without you?" She says, being sure to trail off and look irritated with him before turning around and leaving to the other room. The man slumps a little, having seen the ring. Papyrus can't stop a very tiny snicker.

Everyone gets changed and return to the group. Papyrus thinks this human glamour is a bit big for this outfit… but oh well. It won't be for very long. Vrinda's is very clearly too large on her, but she doesn't look bothered one way or the other about it. The group is given their instructions and are lead over to the stairs that will take them down. They have to pass through the group of scientists who are all talking about complicated things.

"Excuse us, gentlemen," The rejected human man says. Everyone begins to part to let the group through. As Vrinda passes, Gaster is sure to give her butt a subtle pinch. Vrinda swishes her head over to him and gives him a glare. She doesn't mean it though. Just for show though, she dares to flip him the bird with her left hand. Some of the other scientists snicker at Gaster.

"Oooh, she's married mate. Y'er bound the get hung fer that." An Irish man whispers to Gaster.

"Is that so? Well, that's certainly unfortunate." Gaster says, not letting his smile fade.

Papyrus passes as well and he wishes he could play a character that facepalmed and sighed all the time because at this point that's all he'd be doing. SERIOUSLY? His parents are ridiculous. Even during an important mission like this, they have to be gross. Unbelievable. But he wonders… was that the—

Boom! A tall machine fizzles and smokes a little. Sparks come out of it now and again and the monitor on it starts to go haywire.

"The hell?" The rejected man says. Everyone begins to go over to the machine, but Papyrus knows this is his cue. He sneaks off down the stairs as quickly as he's able to and as silently as he was taught.

In his mind, he counts the flights. 1… 2… 3… 4… aaaannnd… Before Papyrus gets down the last flight of stairs, he peeks down at the fifth floor. Gaster was right, there are eight side rooms in this huge circle place. And in front of every single door is one human and one monster guard. Papyrus can't believe so many monsters don't care that the Dreemurr's are crazy people who want to rule over them like royalty! Gods! Are they only working for them because they're scared? It better be, because that's the only excuse Papyrus would accept. Next to each room door is a hallway. Just like on the layout map that Gaster had. Perfect.

With a little tiny bit of magic, he summons a few skeletal feet and makes them sound like someone who is sneaking around. Six guards look down each of their own hall's and see a skeletal heel disappear around a corner. They give chase, yelling at whoever it is to stop. That leaves only four rooms guarded with only eight guards. Papyrus holds in a chuckle. Only eight? This'll be too easy. He begins to do small magical things like lifting objects and distracting all the guards and confuse them. One reaches for a communication device, but Papyrus picks up an empty metal barrel with magic and throws it at him. Two guards go down. The others start shooting at the flying objects, scared that there are ghosts or something. Papyrus can't believe humans are still scared of ghosts. Human ghosts anyway. Monster ghosts are almost always the nicest person you could meet! But HUMAN ghosts are mean.

The monster guards try to get their human counterparts to calm down and to stop being 'fraidy cats, but Papyrus uses the distractions to his advantage, typing a rope from the wall around all of their legs and pulling hard with magic. All eight of them fall to their faces and are knocked out.

"Seriously?" Papyrus whispers to himself. "Too easy." He finishes going down the rest of the stairs.

()

The scientists all crowd around the tall machine that had a small explosion and they're all talking about what's going on with the new group. Vrinda and Gaster hear big stomping steps coming towards them.

"What the hell is going on?" Asgore Dreemurr says, coming up to the group. He towers over all of them at eight feet of pure goat muscle. Everyone turns around in shock and fear at Asgore. The Gaster's are sure to do what the others are doing. One human man goes up to him.

"U-uh, we're not really sure. I—I personally think it's just an old machine and today was just the day it broke down. The screen seems to be malfunctioning as well. It's simply time to get rid of the thing." The man says.

Asgore looks at the group. Vrinda has bent over to look like she's messing with the wires to try and fix it. It's mostly so Asgore can't see her face. The glamours are good, but she still worries that their longtime enemy might find her suspicious.

"It just exploded randomly?... You think it's OLD?" Asgore says. The man who spoke up can't stop a shiver from going up his spine.

"Y-yes sir, it's thirty years old!" He says. Asgore looks down at the workers… and squints.

"You, you, you, and you. Come with me." The Beast says. Gaster is the fourth "you." The others look pretty freaked out and Gaster looks pretty concerned, just managing to keep a worried smile on his face.

Asgore leaves and the four follow him. Vrinda watches them all go and looks at everyone else in her group staring after them with worry. She takes this chance to slip away and over to the stairs. Nobody seems to mention her being gone so she books it down some stairs. It's the third floor down, just two above Papyrus.

While Vrinda walks around the third floor. No one is there. Not a single person. As expected. She walks up to a square power panel and opens it up. The wires look easy enough. It's a little dangerous, seeing as how this is a nuclear reactor after all… but she knows how these things work.

Vrinda hears something. She holds dead still and listens… In a side room, Vrinda can hear talking. She looks in the direction that the voice is coming from and extends her magic so she can hear better without moving and compromising her position.

"—and now it's come to this. You've hurt Asgore and that is the last straw Vrinda and Wingdings Gaster. You and your remaining son will pay for this." It's Toriel! Vrinda is sure that she's talking to a camera. But is it live or is she recording for later?... Not that it matters. Vrinda HOPES it's live, at least for this. She picks a few wires out and summons some magic in her fingers.

"This is war," Toriel says. Vrinda smirks a little. The war has already begun. She cuts the wires.

()

Papyrus roughs up the last six men who left to chase phantoms and returned to see a young man standing above the unconscious bodies of their fellow guards.

"Man. Asgore and Toriel didn't hire very good guards. Lucky for me I guess." Papyrus says partly to himself and partly to the guards on the ground.

Out of nowhere, the lights go out… but are then replaced with slowly blinking red emergency lights. That means he's made good time and that his mom has gotten to the panel. Better hurry.

With a few long strides, Papyrus steps over some of the guards and walks to the closest room. He uses a little bit of magic to unlock the door and then walks in. It's empty. Of course they'd put in two empty rooms to throw someone like him off.

"Predictable," Pap mumbles to himself. He goes to the next room and repeats the process. This room glows with a light blue color. In the center is a thick glass container with a light blue floating heart inside of it. Pap stares at it for a few seconds… before walking forward and putting his hand on the container. He stares at it sadly and then picks it up.

The color reminds him of his brother's magic color. It hurts a little bit of him to be destroying something that reminds him of his brother… But he shakes his head and tries to get rid of that thought.

"I'm sorry this happened to you. But I'm setting you all free now…" Papyrus gives the jar a small hug… and then lifts it over his head and smashes the jar on the ground. It breaks into many large rolling sliding pieces and the soul slowly lifts off the ground. Before it gets just above Papyrus' head, the soul shakes and then breaks into pieces that disappear into sparkles.

"Four more to go…" He rushes into the next room.

()

Asgore sits in a big chair in an office on the upper third floor and the four humans that he brought up there including Gaster stand in a row nervously.

"So what exactly happened?" Asgore says, trying to remain calm. "You first." He says pointing to the first person.

"It's just like Jerry said. It just exploded out of nowhere. It is a thirty-year-old machine, but none of the other machines show signs of going off as well." He says.

"Hm… You can go," Asgore says to the first man. The guy looks confused at the other three who all shrug at him slightly. He leaves…

"Now you," Asgore says to the second man.

"U-Uh….. All I heard was the explosion. I was in the new group that just showed up today… I'm sorry sir…" the second man says. Asgore stares at him for a while… then nods.

"Leave." The man turns and tries to calmly walk out. Asgore gives the third man a look.

"Uh, what I saw was the screen glitching out and then sparks and a bunch of smoke. I actually just checked that machine the other day and it was fine, along with the others."

"I see… Leave." The third man leaves. Gaster is the only one left.

The lights all go out and it's completely dark… until the red lights come on and slowly blink.

"What the hell?" Asgore says. He looks at Gaster and sees his frightened reaction. It seems this "John Lennox" guy had nothing to do with it either.

"Quickly. Get out." Asgore stands up from his desk and heads to the door.

Gaster follows him out and can't stop a wide grin from pulling at his face.

"Hey! What's going on down there?! TURN THE ELECTRICITY BACK ON DAMN YOU!" Asgore screams down the center of the reactor down to the other three bottom floors.

As he leans back, a sword thrusts directly through his chest. It's a huge long sword with barbs on it.

Gaster twists the sword and rips it out violently. He looks up at Asgore's hp.

6000/10,000. YES! That's a pretty big chunk! Almost half! He can work with that!

()

Toriel looks down at her chest and a sword is through it too. She stares with wide eyes. Vrinda rips the sword out and then jumps back several feet, teleporting the overalls off of her.

8000/13,000. Not bad. Of course, Vrinda was hoping for a bigger chunk, but she guesses this will work.

Toriel looks back slowly at the woman.

"Wh… who the hell… are YOU?!" Toriel shouts, gripping her chest. She stares at Vrinda, or rather "Lucy Morette" and glares.

"You would DARE to sneak up from behind ME?!" Toriel screams.

"Your back was wide open. How could I not stab such a perfect target?" Vrinda says with a sweet smile.

Toriel summons fire in both paws. The flames are huge and round. She throws them at Vrinda, but with ease, they're dodged. Vrinda summons more swords and knives and throws them all at Toriel in quick succession. The goat woman grabs the knives and blocks the swords and other knives flying at her. Some nick her though, shaving off small chunks of HP.

"Who the hell ARE you?!" Toriel yells.

"No one special." Vrinda looks at the clock. 9:00

"Ooor maybe I'm a very angry mother." She says. Toriel summons large furry mitten shaped hands that fly at Vrinda quickly. Vrinda rolls and stabs them with swords, making them disappear. But when she stands up, she nearly gets singed with more fireballs. Vrinda has to jump around and flip and slide to get out of the path of the flames.

Once Toriel finishes her attack, she sees "Lucy" standing there with a grin. But her image begins to glitch. Toriel watches amazed… The person known as Lucy fades away, and there stands Vrinda, a smug grin still on her face.

"You….. YOU!" Toriel shouts.

"Skeleton got your tongue?" Vrinda says with a giggle.

"You… YOU did a sneak attack? H... Hahaha. Hahahaha! HA HA HA HA HA!" Toriel laughs and then hunches over with a sick fangy grin of her own.

"I never thought I'd see the day. Since when did you start doing THOSE huh?!"

Vrinda's smile fades just a little. The whites of her sockets begin to turn yellow with a black pupil.

"I started when your brats killed my son." She says in a quiet voice, looking down her nose bone at Toriel.

"And it came up again when you hurt Civetta." Vrinda begins to walk towards Toriel at an angle, feeling the edge of her sword.

"And then again when your DISGUSTING flee ridden RAT of a husband had Flameheart's attacked. And finally, it came up again when Asgore hurt poor Muffet." Vrinda stops walking and lowers her sword.

"You want a war?" Vrinda says through her teeth. Toriel watches mildly impressed. Is this the same woman she used to fight?

"Well, you've got it, you bitch." Vrinda teleports away.

Slashes start to appear on Toriel's body, small pieces of blood beginning to fall on the ground and spatter onto the walls and ceiling. Toriel finally summons flames that surround her, but the sword still goes through it and cuts the goat woman.

"What's wrong, Toriel? Fight back already!~ Hehehe!~" Vrinda's voice echoes all around her. Toriel can't believe this. This is different than before. Vrinda is SERIOUSLY going for the kill, which she's never done. She always used to try and be merciful at the last second. But Toriel has a feeling that that's changed… And she's fine with that.

"I'm just wondering why you TALK SO MUCH." Toriel swings both of her arms back and hits Vrinda in the ribs somehow. But the skeleton quickly recovers by teleporting. She wastes no time in appearing before the back wall and jumping off of it at top speed, thrusting a different sword forward at Toriel. She's so fast no normal being would be able to predict her movements. But Toriel is not normal.

The goat woman grabs the sword by the edge with one paw and then Vrinda's wrist with the other. She yanks the sword out of her hands and then throws her out of the room completely through a window. Vrinda flies out and below her she can see the railing. She's flying down now towards the fourth floor. Not good. Vrinda teleports herself several times to try and get rid of the momentum, and she eventually teleports herself to a room on the fourth floor where she crashes into storage shelves made of metal. There are boxes and glass objects that are destroyed.

Papyrus would have jumped out of his skin if he'd had it on anymore.

"U-Uurrggghhh that FUCKING—" Vrinda begins to say. She throws a box off of her head and looks up to see Papyrus staring at her. The last soul, a purple one, has just broken.

"Oh, hey honey." She says, keeping her words to herself.

"A-ARE YOU OKAY MOTHER?" Papyrus asks, going over to her and helping her up. He looks at her Hp.

2000/2410.

"I TAKE IT YOU'VE MADE CONTACT WITH TORIEL THEN."

"Sure have. She'll be down here in a minute too. So watch it." Vrinda says, straightening her black tie.

"Those overalls were so gross. They better not have stained my shirt." Papyrus sighs.

"MOTHER YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS. YOU'VE GOT BLOOD ALL OVER IT ALREADY…"

"Yeah, but blood comes out easier than GREASE, sweetie."

A huge crashing sound is heard and the floor under the two shake. The floor under them starts to crack.

"Uh oh," Vrinda says. She grabs Papyrus and teleports the two of them up to the third floor so they can look down and see what's happened. At the bottom is Gaster on his back with blood all over him. Asgore's. The ground around Gaster is cracked and cratered.

"Are you okay honey?!" Vrinda calls down. Gaster begins to sit up, but before he can, a huge white flash of fur flies down the center of the open space and smashes down onto his chest. The entire floor is cracked and destroyed. A wave of heat and color rush up at Papyrus and Vrinda. The heat is so intense that the two have to step back and cover themselves with their arms. The color is a horrible bright green color.

"Oh, crap…" Vrinda says.

"IS THAT THE NUCLEAR WASTE?" Papyrus asks. He quickly goes to the railing and looks down.

()

Asgore stomps Gaster straight through the only layer of concrete separating everyone from the toxic glowing waste. The bright green awful smelling atmosphere surrounds the two of them. Gaster manages to teleport from under Asgore's feet and makes himself reappear on one end of the circle. He takes a look…. This isn't good. In his map of this reactor, the entire floor was covered in a grate. But now it's only covered by a circle and an X made of grate. Who the hell is DOWN here this close to the nuclear waste that they need walkways?

He… suddenly feels strange. Not very good. Asgore laughs now.

"You didn't know then. How interesting. You really don't know WHY we chose this place to base ourselves?" Asgore says. Gaster glares at him and stands up straight. He sheds his lab coat but leaves on his wool one. It's another layer of protection. At Gaster's side teleports Vrinda. She puts a hand on him and heals him, a chunk of his HP returning to him.

Toriel jumps down and lands in the center of the grate, denting it a little. She walks over to Asgore looking angry, covered in bloody marks.

"Oh good. Now I only have to explain it once."

"[WERE YOU GOING TO EXPLAIN IT /MORE/ THAN ONCE? HOW LIKE YOU. IRRITATING.]" Gaster says. But Asgore ignores him.

"We based ourselves here because radiation makes monsters weak." Asgore says with a grin.

Gaster's eyes widen… That's why Civetta couldn't free herself from the chain when she was being held here… The radiation somehow sapped her magic power!

"Hehe. Now you're getting it. I always thought you were smart, Wingdings." Asgore says. Toriel takes a step forward and then begins to steadily walk to the skeletons.

"Indeed. It's a shame that those smarts ran out right when you needed them." Toriel says. She dashes at the family. But a bullet goes right through her arm. Then another and another, making a line from her wrist elbow up to her shoulder. She looks up in shock. Who ELSE is here?

From a few floors up is Papyrus, aiming down at her with a sniper rifle.

Without a word, Vrinda rushes forward while Toriel isn't looking and swings up at her with a huge round bladed sword. But Asgore appears and actually grabs Vrinda by her pantsuit and throws her as hard as he can to the other side of the room. She smashes into it, cracking the cement and then falls to the grate.

Gaster teleports now into the air and stabs down with a steal multi-pointed knife into Asgore's shoulder. Asgore roars in pain and reaches up to grab Gaster. But the slippery skeleton teleports away. A bullet pierces Asgore's leg and nearly has him on one knee. But The Beast keeps standing. Toriel sends waves of huge flames with her one remaining arm up at Papyrus. It looks like fiery beam being shot at him. Pap only just moves out of the way, getting his left arm burnt. 732/920. Holy crap! Just getting singed took a chunk of HP away!

Vrinda stands up and rolls her shoulders.

"That hurt you asshole." She says in almost a whisper. But she knows Asgore and Toriel heard her. The two face Vrinda and Gaster who teleported next to her.

"Asgore." Toriel says. Asgore looks down at her with a… surprised expression? But then he looks up at the two again and nods.

"Yeah." Both of the goats lift their arms (the ones that work anyway) and balls of fire completely saturate the air. There are barely pockets of space without a fireball. Gaster and Vrinda look at the minefield of air and look at each other. They nod together and prepare.

Papyrus peeks down at what's going on and he sees the two old enemies getting ready to do what they always do. Fight until someone can't move or is dead… He hopes his parents can find it in themselves to kill the Dreemurr's and not back out at the last minute. With an eye in his scope, he prepares to shoot Asgore in the head. But…. He suddenly disappears. And so does Toriel. Papyrus takes his eye away from the scope and instead of seeing monsters, he sees beams of light and magic zipping around like lightning bolts. What the HELL is going on?... Asgore and Toriel can't TELEPORT, can they? The four magic energies clash so violently that the air waves from the fight shake his ribs. The power that everyone has still astounds him all the time. His parents have NEVER done this to him in training. Have they ever done it to Sans? Does Sans even KNOW about this?

The lightning bolts of magic continue to fight, some yelling can be heard when someone is wounded, some metal sounds crashing and grinding with a terrible sound. Gaster's floating hands appear several times, moving almost as fast, and some of Vrinda's favorite axes spin and swing too.

Finally, two lightning bolts stop moving, Gaster and Asgore. Gaster seems shocked that Asgore is in front of him. As if there was a pattern going and it was suddenly broken. Asgore takes this to his advantage and with all of his beastly boss monster might, punches Gaster in the stomach. The skeleton disappears so fast that Papyrus thought he'd teleported again. But it was just the force of the monstrous punch sending him soaring.

Gaster crashes into the wall so hard it leaves a hole, only leaving his feet out. Papyrus gasps and gets his eye back on the scope. Asgore walks over to the still figure and yanks him out by one of his ankles and holds him up in the air. Asgore looks rather beat up himself, but Gaster…. Papyrus can feel something sinking and hot in his stomach…

Asgore squeezes hard and breaks Gaster's shin bone. Even from all the way up here, Papyrus can hear the ugly snap. Gaster shouts in pain. Papyrus shoots and gets Asgore in the other shoulder. But the beast doesn't seem to even notice… He just grabs Gaster with his other hand by his arm and begins to swing him around, smashing him into the grate and into the wall like some sort of demon. Gaster watches his father's HP go down in horror.

2504/3550

1984/3550

300/3550

Vrinda is thrown down into the center of the grate front first. As she goes to sit up, Toriel lands hard on Vrinda's spine. It fractures in many places… Vrinda's screams are something Papyrus could never have imagined. If that had happened to a human they'd be dead a thousand times over. He shoots at Toriel several times in the stomach, in the chest, in her limbs. He even aims at her head and pulls the trigger. But Toriel seems to move her head a fraction of an inch and it just misses her, only taking one of her small pointed horns off.

No no no! He's useless like this! Papyrus tosses the gun aside and jumps down into the echoes of his mother's shrieks of pain.

35/2410 is her HP.

Toriel summons a metal whip covered in fire and gets ready to lash down at Vrinda. But Papyrus teleports there, eyes glowing a violent orange and lets the whip wrap around his arm. He yanks on it and then when Toriel is pulled forward, with all of his might, punches her in the face so hard she goes flying into the back wall, cracking it and the ceiling just above it. Pieces fall onto her.

But Papyrus focuses quickly on Vrinda.

"MOTHER!" He calls, bending down to her. He reaches an arm out to… he's not sure what. He knows if he touches her anywhere right now she'll be in pain.

Suddenly healing magic pours from his hand and onto Vrinda's spine.

The small spike in happiness goes down instantly when he hears more smashing. He looks up and sees Asgore smashing Gaster into the wall over and over again until Gaster goes limp.

2/3550. Papyrus' sockets go wide. Before he can do anything else though Toriel body slams him so hard that everything goes black for many seconds. He smashed into the wall headfirst it seems. Dizziness completely takes over his vision and he can't move any part of his body once he's sat up on one elbow, laying on his stomach.

"You've irritated me for the last time," Asgore says. He drags Gaster by his wool coat near Vrinda… and then holds him up over the glowing green nuclear waste.

Vrinda's eyes widen. She still can't move and her magic is almost completely gone.

"A-Asgore—" Vrinda begins to plead.

"Any last words?" Asgore says. Both to Gaster and Vrinda.

Is this… real? Is Asgore really going to…

Gaster can't make a sound. He can't even hear anything. Everything hurts. Parts of him are broken, bruised. It's impossible for him to move. The only thing he can feel besides pain is warmth. The heat of the bubbling waste feels nice. Like a hot bath.

"No?... Then farewell, Wingdings Gaster."

It's slow motion. Asgore slowly let's go of Gaster's turtle neck that he had a hold of.

He drops Gaster.

Papyrus watches in horror. His father, without a struggle, falls silently down, farther and faster. Papyrus reaches out with all of his strength. No… No….

A floating skeletal hand appears for just a second. It closes itself, but before it can wrap around Gaster, it disappears….. Papyrus failed to catch his father with a power he didn't know he had.

Vrinda watches for a few seconds…. Until she starts screaming.

"Gaster! WingdiNGS! WINGDINGS!" But Gaster doesn't move at all.

Down near the heat, it gets warmer and warmer for Gaster. Falling. It feels nice. No part of him hurts. It almost feels blissful.

But…

He can hear something finally… Someone calling him… No, screaming. Someone is screaming at him?... Then, loud and clear.

"GAAAASTEEEEEEERRRRRRRR!" Vrinda screams sorrowfully.

His wife. She's hurt isn't she? She needs him. Papyrus needs him. Sans needs him. Wait… Wait! Gaster opens his eyes, only for a second. And in that second, he sees Toriel grabbing Vrinda by the back of her head and lifting her up. And then-… It all goes dark.

()

Vrinda is picked up by the back of her head and it's agonizing, her spine, partially healed is being ripped apart again.

"Next." Toriel says with acid in her voice.

Papyrus forces himself with every ounce of his physical power to stand and summon as many bones as he can, broken and pointed. Some of them are blue.

"GIVE. HER. BACK." Papyrus says between ragged breaths.

But… Neither goat monster can even look his way when Vrinda's black sockets change color and burn with yellow magic. Her HP begins to skyrocket.

35/2410

500/2410

1600/2410

Vrinda flips herself backward and stands on top of Toriel's shoulders, bending it in such a way that it breaks. Bone stabs out of her flesh and fur, and it makes Toriel scream in agony. Vrinda doesn't stay on her long though. She jumps forward at Asgore with a single large bone and swings at him as if he were a baseball. The bone hits Asgore so hard that Papyrus can hear his skull breaking and teeth crunching. The Beast loses his balance and falls backward. He tries to roll out of Vrinda's way, but bones stab down into his arms and legs, pinning and trapping him.

2410/2410

2900/2900

3800/3800

Vrinda's sockets are completely yellow now. She lifts the club like bone over her head… and begins to beat Asgore's head in with it. During it all, Vrinda screams as much as her form will allow her to. Papyrus has to look away. Brains, bone, fur, horn pieces, hair… blood. It all goes flying.

She beats his skull so hard Papyrus can hear the grate being hit now. Finally, she turns the bone upside down and stabs it through his chest. Asgore instantly becomes dust.

6500/6500.

Vrinda stands over the dust pile, covered head to toe in spattered blood… and then slowly looks back at Toriel. Toriel's eyes widen and fill with tears… What is this…. This feeling she's got?... Is this… the fear of dying she feels?

"V-Vrinda, wa-wait hold on. W-We're even now right? You were able to kill Asgore! A-An eye for an eye?" Toriel says shakily. Papyrus just barely manages to hold himself up on the railing. He can't stop his mom at this point… Even if he wanted to. But he can't watch. All he can do is stare down into roiling glowing green waste and pray that he sees his father… He never appears.

Vrinda walks over to Toriel, summoning a clean club bone.

"N-No no no! Vrinda w-wait! We used to be friends right?! Let's talk about this! You already got your revenge!" Toriel shouts. Even she's impressed by her own pathetic sounding voice.

Vrinda finally speaks.

"I wish I could bring Asgore back….. so that I could kill him over and over again… I think…. What I'll do with you… is what you did to the others. I'll make you feel… how I do…"

Papyrus gets shivers down his spine. His mother sounds like… like a monster.

Vrinda gets up to Toriel and shakes with anger. The yellow magic in her sockets begins to die down. So she decides to make this quick. Vrinda raises the bone over her head, ready to repeat the process with Asgore, with interest.

"No No no! Vrinda I'm sorry!" Toriel begs. Vrinda swings down.

Toriel teleports away at the last second.

The bone smashes into the wall and is stuck there…. It's just Papyrus and Vrinda now.

Papyrus slowly looks over at his mother, frightened. She's on a rampage. But… could she actually hurt him by mistake? He doesn't dare speak, just in case…

Vrinda stands there quietly… and then she falls to her knees, looking up.

"Gaster?..." She whispers once… "Gaster?" She says again louder now. But Gaster doesn't respond.

"Gaster? Honey?" Vrinda says. Papyrus watches her, tears stinging his sockets… His father is really gone…. Killed. Boiled by toxic waste… Papyrus is sad… He's so sad he feels like he may become dust right then and there… But his mother. His mother is going to go mad if he doesn't step in. And so he does. He walks over to his mother…

"W-wing…. Wingdings?!" Vrinda keeps saying. Papyrus finally steps in front of her… and then gets to one knee. But he doesn't touch her yet.

"MOTHER…" Papyrus says quietly. Vrinda slowly looks down at him, the yellow magic finally disappearing from her eyes.

"Why…. Isn't he… answering me?" Vrinda says. Huge tears begin to fall down her face in many streams.

"Papyrus, why isn't your dad answering me?"

Papyrus is quiet for a moment… He lowers his head a bit… Saying it is going to hurt…. It's going to hurt so much to admit what's just happened…

"MOTHER… FATHER IS… GONE. FATHER IS GONE NOW. HE CAN'T ANSWER YOU." Papyrus says as straight as he can. But once he gets to the end, his voice hitches and his tears return tenfold.

Vrinda watches her son do his best to control himself. Shaking and beginning to sob, looking down and grabbing her shoulders tightly. Vrinda stays quiet. And she stays quiet for several minutes, watching Papyrus sob loudly now…

This is just it then… This is what their life is now….

Vrinda has experienced loss before. Her parents being murdered right on top of her. Her entire town being dusted all around her… How did she ever deal with it?... She got her revenge on the humans that did all of that… and she felt better. Now she got some revenge on Asgore by killing him…. But she doesn't feel better at all. She feels like she's going to be sick. Like she's going to pass out… Her world spins and she can't stop her eyes from closing.

Papyrus feels Vrinda becoming limp. He looks up quickly and sees Vrinda's eyes close at the last second. She falls forward, finally drained of magic. Papyrus catches her and shakes her a little. Not again…

"MOTHER! MOTHER?!" Papyrus looks up at her HP. It's… over twice what it was before. Was it because she killed a boss monster?... She's fine then…. Just asleep. How on earth is he going to get them out of here? Should he really take her HOME? What if someone follows him?...

No. That's a stupid question. If someone follows him, he will kill them outright…

Papyrus stands up and just barely manages to hoist his petite mother into his arms… and begins to teleport short distances… His Hp is extremely low too. But he has to get them all out of there. He HAS TO. He has to he has to he has to he has to!

With every forceful thought, he teleports one floor. Finally, he makes it to the first floor. It looks like everyone's evacuated the building. He looks around and sees one big monitor showing video. It's showing a sideways view of the last level where the glowing green waste is… So that entire thing was on video…

The workers weren't running away because they were scared of Asgore or Toriel… They ran because they were scared of his mother….

"AS THEY SHOULD BE." Papyrus whispers to himself.

He walks right to the front door and pushes it open with his shoulder. Everyone is standing outside or hiding in bushes or behind cars. He doesn't care…. Papyrus gets up to a car and uses what little magic he has left to unlock the back seat.

"H-Hey—" A human man begins to say. Papyrus slowly looks over at him. He must have looked scary because the man yipes and hides next to someone else. They push the man out of their hiding spot, for fear of being taken out with him. Papyrus ignores them again and opens the back door. He places his mother inside and lays her down, buckling her up carefully so she can sleep while he drives home. Pap gets in the driver's seat and holds out his hand. Everyone stares at him… Clearly, he wants the key.

The terrified man from before walks up to him carefully and drops the key in his palm before running away again.

Papyrus starts the car and drives away slowly.


End file.
